3 witnesses to be evaluated before gov’t. protection

Are the testimonies of the three witnesses in the kidnap-slay charge against Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel material to the case?

The applicants should pass the primary requirement so they will be accepted into the Witness Protection Order (WPP), said Prosecutor Llena Ipong-Avila, head of the Department of Justice’s WPP in Central Visayas.

“The crime should at least carry with it a penalty of prision mayor, or six years and one day up,” said Avila.

Niño was tagged as the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife after his cousin Riolito “Etad” Boniel admitted to the police that he saw the board member shoot Gisela before throwing her body into the water between Bohol and Cebu.

Riolito’s companions, Randel Lupas and Edgar Tapera have been endorsed into the D0J-WPP.

In an interview, Prosecutor Avila said the crime the applicant witnessed is a grave offense, his testimony is material to the case, the witness-applicant is not a law enforcement officer.

“As to the responsibilities, we have a memorandum of agreement. Once he is in, he is bound to observe everything stated therein,” said Avila.

In a separate interview, defense lawyer Leilani Trinidad Villarino said that it is also the prosecution’s prerogative to place their witnesses under protection program.

“But personally, their fear of their lives is more imaginary than real. They perceived the Boniels as dangerous people, but that’s a hoax. They themselves know how generous Board Member Boniel was to them and to their family,” said Villarino.

Niño, in his counter-affidavit to the parricide charges lodged against him and four others, said that Gisela might only be hiding but not dead.

“My wife, Gisela, has all the reasons to hide or even feign death because she is neck-deep buried in debts of several million,” said Niño in his eight-page counter-affidavit.

Likewise, Niño Rey said that the supposed witnesses—Riolito “Etad” Boniel and Randel Lupas—were “pressured” by the police to come up with a “fabricated tale” to pin him down.

He submitted his affidavit to counter the parricide charges the Regional Intelligence Division 7 filed against him and four others before the Office of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor.

Also charged with the same offense were Lubo Boniel, Allan delos Reyes Jr., Wilson Hoylar and Brian Boniel Saycon.