Husband suspected missing mayor of cheating, says her pal

Angela Leyson best friend of his wife Gisela Boniel, who is the mayor of Bien Unido town, Bohol.c Accused Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boñiel. Boniel is accused of kidnapping his wife.(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

CEBU CITY — Investigators have found that the missing mayor of Bien Unido, Bohol, who was allegedly killed by her husband, wanted her marriage annulled, Central Visayas police director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño said on Friday.

Mayor Gisela Boniel’s husband, Niño Rey Boniel, has denied the allegation and claimed that she was having an affair with a foreigner.

Niño, a provincial board member, his driver, Randel Lucas and his cousin Riolito Boniel, have been arrested.

A court in Tagbilaran City, the provincial capital, granted a petition for habeas corpus filed by Niño and Lucas, but this was ignored by the police.

Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, head of the regional intelligence division, which took custody of the suspects, questioned the “hasty” issuance of the writ and said he would ask the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice to review it.

The police filed the illegal detention, kidnapping and serious physical injury complaints of Angela Leyson, Gisela’s best friend, against the three men at the prosecutor’s office in Tagbilaran.

Alleged affair

Leyson told reporters in Cebu City on Friday that aside from financial problems, the couple also quarreled over reports that Gisela was allegedly dating a foreigner.

“Yes, there was (a third party). They quarreled about that, but that is not a valid issue. It’s just an acquaintance relationship. They (Gisela and the foreigner) just dined at times. And they are not living under one roof,” she said.

Leyson said the couple have been living apart for the past five months.

She said Niño was really mad at Gisela because of the rumored affair.

“He was very angry. I thought (Niño) already accepted the fact that they already parted ways,” she said.

Leyson said Gisela confided to her that she was not happy with her marriage.

“To be honest, (Gisela) would tell me that their marriage was a joke,” she said.

She said the couple were married in civil rites and that Gisela was pregnant at the time.

“There were times when Gisela told me that she just wanted to die. She told me ‘My life is a lie and a wreck,’” Leyson said.

In her complaint, Leyson said that she, her son and Gisela were held against their will inside a resort in Bien Unido on Tuesday night.

Gisela was later taken away by Niño, who was accompanied by at least six armed men.

She was reportedly shot dead and thrown in the waters between Cebu and Bohol.

Divers on Friday scoured the sea between Bien Unido and Caubian Island off Lapu-Lapu City but failed to find her body.