2 suspects in 2017 Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel murder, arrested

Two suspects in the 2017 killing of Bien Unido Bohol Mayor Gisela Bendong-Boniel were arrested on Thursday, September 12, after hiding for two years.

Police Colonel Jonathan Cabal, acting director of the Bohol Provincial Police Office, identified the suspects as Lobo Boniel and Allan Delos Reyes Jr., both residents of Bien Unido town, Bohol.

Police considered both Boniel and Delos Reyes as fourth and fifth most wanted individuals in Lapu-Lapu City and Bohol.

In a press conference, Cabal said they were given a tip by a source that  Boniel and  Delos Reyes were seen in  Lapu-Lapu City.

Police were able to arrest them in Barangay Basak inside the house owned by Police Patrolman Nico Ababon, Lobo's cousin-in-law.

Cabal said they confiscated a police T-shirt, a .45 calibre pistol, and five live ammunitions from Lobo.

Boniel and Delos Reyes were arrested by virtue of alias warrant of arrest issued by Regional Trial Court of Cebu, 7th Judicial Region Branch 70 Lapu-Lapu City Judge Christine Muga-Abad for the crime of murder.

The warrant was issued last August 23, 2019 with no recommended bail.

Meanwhile, Cabal said Ababon will be investigated thoroughly because “harboring a suspect of a crime is against the law.”

He also said they will be filing a case of obstruction of justice against the legal counsel who told them to hide and the lawyer may even lose his license to practice law.

Lobo and Delos Reyes, who allegedly kidnapped Gisela, are two of the nine suspects allegedly involved in her disappearance.

Lobo is the cousin of former Bohol Provincial Board member Niño Rey Boniel, the husband of Gisela who was tagged as the mastermind in the alleged killing of his wife in June 2017. — BAP, GMA News