Bohol Board Member Niño Rey Boniel with wife, Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel (Contributed photo)
CEBU CITY—Parricide charges are set to be filed today against Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel, the principal suspect in the kidnap-slay of his wife, Mayor Gisela Boniel of Bien Unido town in Bohol, with the Lapu-Lapu Prosecutor’s Office.
“We have all the reason to hold board member Boniel. He is under custodial investigation for parricide,” said Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
Even if the body of Gisela has yet to be retrieved, Taliño believes they have a solid case against Niño and six of the latter’s cohorts.
“The commission of the crime is the body of the crime itself. As long as we have the witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused, we can still secure a conviction. We have a strong case. Finding Mayor Gisela’s body is not necessary but it would really be great if we recover it because it will further strengthen our case,” Taliño explained.
Two suspects—Niño’s cousin Riolito “Etad” Boniel and driver Randel Lupas—pointed to Niño as having a hand in Gisela’s death.
Riolito and Lupas are considered key witnesses by the police.
Judge Marivic Trabajo-Daray of the Regional Trial Court Branch 52 in Talibon, Bohol, on Friday ordered the immediate release of Niño and Lupas after the police failed to file charges against them within 36 hours.
Taliño, however, insisted there was no reason for them to let go of Niño.
“We believe that we filed the case within the reglementary period,” he told reporters.
Taliño said they could not release Niño because, on Friday evening, he was formally arrested for killing his wife.
Dismayed at the refusal of the police to release his client, Niño’s lawyer Handel Lagunay will seek refuge from the trial court today, hoping to hold officers who defy the order answerable for their acts.
“We will file a pleading before the Regional Trial Court in Talibon, Bohol, to inform the judge that the police are defying the order to release board member Boniel. The police knew that they would be liable for refusing to follow the order of the court,” Lagmay said.