The Department of Justice has dismissed the parricide complaint against Bohol provincial board member Nino Rey Boniel for allegedly killing his wife, Gisela, mayor of Bien Unido in Bohol.
In a 12-page resolution, the DoJ through Undersecretary Reynate Orceo granted the petition for review filed by Boniel seeking to nullify and set aside the findings of the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office indicting the accused of parricide for lack of jurisdiction.
The DoJ stressed that Boniel’s alleged killing of his wife cannot be separated from the charge of kidnapping also filed against him.
“Wherefore, in view of the foregoing, the instant petition for reviews is granted and assailed Resolution dated 28 June 2017 of the Office of the City Prosecutor of Lapu-Lapu City is hereby granted and set aside,” according to the resolution signed by Orceo.
As a consequence, the DoJ also ordered the withdrawal of murder charges against Boniel’s two alleged cohorts, Willy Hoylar and Restituto Magoncia Jr. Boniel is currently detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.
“To go on with their trial borders on the ludicrous sans the alleged main actor,” the resolution said.
According to Orceo, there is still a pending kidnapping complaint against Boniel before the Bohol Prosecutor’s Office.
“It should be noted that a case for kidnapping is still pending in Bohol, whereby the same set of evidence has been presented to pursue the case against the herein respondent-appellant. The allegation that Mayor Gisela was killed by respondent-appellant was likewise presented before the prosecution office of Bohol by virtue of Riolito’s sworn statement,” he stressed.
Citing the sworn statement of witness Riolito Albarquez Boniel, Gisela, who was accused by her husband of having an affair, was allegedly abducted by the appellant Boniel along with several others from the Bien Unido Dive Camp in Bohol past midnight of June 7, 2017.
