Husband’s camp asks police to present him, questions his arrest
Lawyers of Niño Rey Boniel asked the court yesterday to compel the police to present him and explain their grounds for detaining the Bohol Provincial Board (PB) member.
A day after Boniel’s arrest, the search continued for his wife of two years, Bien Unido, Bohol Mayor Gisela Bendong-Boniel.
After inquest proceedings in Bohol yesterday, PB Member Boniel was set to face the court on June 23 to answer charges of kidnapping and physical injuries.
His wife’s friend, Angela Galaminda-Leyson, said that the couple had been estranged since February this year, after Gisela told the police that her husband had mauled her. Niño, she added, has been asking her for advice on how to win back his wife.
The Bohol lawmaker’s arrest has also brought to light his suspension for 90 days on orders of the Sandiganbayan, which had found him and eight others liable for hastily giving his relatives in 2016 a license to operate a cockpit.
Regional Trial Court Judge Marivic Tradayo-Daray has barred the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) from "restraining the liberty" of Bohol Provincial Board (PB) Member Niño Rey Boniel and his driver Rendel Lupas.
Daray, of the Cebu City RTC Branch 17, granted the habeas corpus petition filed by Boniel and Lupas against Chief Supt. Felipe Natividad, BPPO chief.
"There is no justification for respondent and the PNP personnel under his command and authority to hold and detain the pe- titioners without warrant," read Daray's two-page order.
Boniel, the former mayor of Bien Unido, Bohol, is accused of masterminding the killing of his wife Gisela last Thursday.
The court order came after Boniel and Lupas filed the peti- tion against Supt. Natividad after they were placed under police custody on the pretext they are under investigation.
However, the petitioners argued that no warrant of arrest was issued against them that would justify their arrest and detention.
They asked the court to order Natividad to release them from the police intelligence branch office.
In her order, Judge Daray granted the petitioners' pleading.
The judge ordered the police to produce the bodies of the petitioners during the hearing of the petition and to "show cause" why they detained them.
At Cebu Capitol, Vice Gov. Agnes express sadness over the incident, saying Boniel is friends with some members of the Cebu Provincial Board.
“He is friends with some of our Board members here. It's a very sad news,” Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said.
Magpale also chairs the Provincial Women's Commission.
“Of course, we are saddened and I cannot imagine somebody occupying a very responsible position was killed,” she said.
She said she understands that there is a third party concerned and she was saddened for all women.
“I don't want to pass judgment on either one of them. Let's just pray for the soul of Mayor Boniel,” Magpale said.
She said all parties involved should keep calm. “If there's a problem, let's talk about it,” she said.
The mayor's body has not yet been found.