Arbitrary detention complaint: Cabal, Bien Unido cops want Bohol prosecutors out

CEBU, Philippines — Regional Intelligence Division (RID)-7 Chief Jonathan Cabal and six others, who were earlier accused of arbitrary detention, are seeking for the inhibition of the entire Bohol Provincial Prosecutor’s Office (BPPO) from further handling the criminal complaint.

Cabal, Bien Unido policemen SPO1 Alexander Garcia, PO3 Angelo Avenido, PO1 Frederick Enriquez, Ally Bornillo, Lloyd Garcia, and Emmanuel Pagalan were accused of detaining the suspected cohorts of Bohol Board Member Niño Rey Boniel in the alleged killing of his wife and Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Boniel.

Lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, legal counsels of Lobo Boniel, Brian Sayson, and Wilson Hoylar, said they will file an opposition to the motion to inhibit.

Dela Cerna said the motion was preposterous and an outright lie, and that there is no basis “in law and in fact” that the BPPO should inhibit.

What Cabal and his group were trying to do was to cover up their actions and mislead the provincial prosecutor’s office, he said.

Dela Cerna added that the pieces of evidence would show that his clients were illegally detained without legal grounds.

Lobo, Sayson, and Hoylar earlier alleged that last August 16, the elements of Bien Unido Police Station went to their residences to arrest them allegedly upon Cabal’s instruction.

The complainants claimed their names were not included in the warrant of arrest, which the police showed. The warrant of arrest was in relation to the killing of Gisela, wife of Rey Niño, last June 7.

Sayson said the arrest warrant only had the names of  Riolito Boniel, Randel Lupas, Wilfredo Hoylar, and Restituto Magoncia.

Since Hoylar refused to go with the police and decided to hide, only Sayson and Lobo were transported from Bohol to Cebu.

The Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office (LCPO), however, ordered the release of Sayson and Lobo, citing there was no basis or legality of their arrest and continued detention.

Associate Provincial Prosecutor Godwin Gamas had earlier ruled that there was probable cause to elevate the arbitrary detention complaint against Cabal and the other accused before the court.

“It is clear as crystal that the said warrant did not command the respondents to arrest the complainants. The John Does mentioned by the respondents did not even appear in the warrant except in the caption written in the document above the title,” the joint resolution read.

The LCPO had also cleared Sayson and Hoylar of murder, saying it found no probable cause that they allegedly conspired in the killing of Gisela.

Meanwhile, the Regional Trial Court Branch 57 in Cebu City had deferred the supposed arraignments of Niño Rey for parricide, as well as the murder case against Riolito Boniel, Randel Lupas, Wilfredo Hoylar, Restituto Magoncia, Jr., Allan Delos Reyes, Jr., and Lobo Boniel.

All of them were accused of conspiring with each other in the alleged killing of Gisela and throwing her into the seawaters between Caubian and Olango Islands in Lapu-Lapu City.

Their arraignment was deferred following a Supreme Court order directing that all Lapu-Lapu City cases tried in Cebu City RTC will be returned back to its original court. (FREEMAN)