Bohol Board Member Niño Rey Boniel with wife, Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel — CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol — Gisela Bendong-Boniel was making waves as the first female pilot of one of the country’s budget airlines.
Niño Rey Boniel, of the municipality of Bien Unido, was making a mark not just as one of the youngest mayors in Bohol but also for raising his town’s classification from 5th class to 4th class during his term.
When the couple got married in 2015, their constituents thought it was a union made in heaven.
They elected Gisela as mayor in 2016 to replace her husband who ran and won as 2nd district board member.
On the outside, everything looked well between the couple.
But on Thursday, Bien Unido residents were shocked by the news that their mayor was allegedly killed by her husband and her body thrown into the sea.
The police claimed the marriage had been on rocks due to financial problems and “jealousy” by the mayor’s husband.
“We were sad when we heard the news,” said farmer Calixto Binangbang, 45.
He said they didn’t expect that tragedy would fall on their favorite couple.
‘Good people’
Another farmer, Eisen Avenido, 51, described the couple as “good people.”
“Mayor Gisela was very close to the people, especially the senior citizens. She was a pilot, young, pretty and on top of it, a mayor,” he added.
Gay Mabanag-Delima, 36, councilor of Barangay Poblacion in Bien Unido, said the news about the Boniel couple left them in a state of shock.
“How I wish they will not be able to find her body so there is still a chance that she is alive,” she said.
The 40-year-old mayor made history in the male-dominated aviation industry as the first female pilot of AirAsia Philippines.
Gisela’s high school friends told the Inquirer that she had always been fascinated with planes since she was a little girl.
On Feb. 28, 2016, she received a commendation for outstanding airmanship after she safely landed an AirAsia plane with only one working engine at Mactan International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City.
Niño, 38, also made his own mark in his town in Bien Unido, about 76 kilometers northeast of Tagbilaran City, the provincial capital.
Although a native of Bohol, Niño studied from grade school to college at the University of San Carlos in Cebu.
He graduated with a political science degree and took up law while running his businesses. His work, however, forced him to drop out of law school in his second year.
Aside from an insurance firm, Niño owned Diamond Trading, which imports vehicles from Japan, and a restaurant in SM City Mall. He was also a director of ABN Dreamworks Corp.
Niño returned to Bien Unido to follow his father’s footsteps as town mayor.
At 29, he was elected mayor in 2007, the second youngest in Bohol’s history.
Bohol tourism
During his term, he tried to put the town on the tourism map by joining the Sinulog Grand Parade in Cebu and the Sandugo Festival in Bohol.
He also established accommodations to attract tourists and divers who wanted to explore the Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef.
The Danajon Reef is the only documented double barrier reef in the Philippines and reportedly one of only six in the world. Nearby, he built an underwater grotto consisting of 4.26-meter tall statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Sto. Niño (the Child Jesus).
Niño also improved the water system and infrastructure of the town and addressed the other concerns such as health and sanitation, livelihood and peace and order.
He was also instrumental in curbing illegal fishing in the coastal municipality.
Since the mayor was a bachelor, his constituents wondered if he would ever settle down and with whom as he had been seen with several women. Most of his ex-girlfriends were older than him.
In 2010, Niño introduced Gisela to his friends. Five years later, the two got married. They have a three-year-old son.
Gisela won the hearts of the residents of Bien Unido who elected her mayor in 2016.
She had grand plans for the town that remained underdeveloped and attracted only a few tourists unlike others in Bohol.
Starting to go south
When she was sworn into office last year, Gisela said her priorities would be to bring in tourists as well as provide health services, education and livelihood to her constituents.
Since she was criticized for her lack of experience in public service, Gisela took a crash course in local governance at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance in Quezon City.
Although Niño and Gisela have appeared together in public functions, their relationship started to sour last December when she was attacked on Facebook by her husband’s political opponents and was dragged into controversies involving her husband.
Friends of the couple told the Inquirer on condition of anonymity to avoid being drag into the case, said financial problems also took a toll on their marriage after Gisela took out a loan to finance a watch business and bought a watch worth P2.5 million.
Her husband was angered by her inability to pay off her debts, their friends said.
According to Angela Leyson, the mayor’s best friend and who was with Gisela before she disappeared, what infuriated Niño was her plan to seek an annulment of their marriage on grounds that her husband committed irregularities during his incumbency as mayor and only used her for his political advancement.