By: Mars W. Mosqueda, Jr.
CEBU CITY – The search for the supposed body of Bien Unido, Bohol mayor Gisela Boniel officially ended Tuesday and the defense camp continued to insist that the mayor is still alive but in hiding.
Eighteen days after Boniel was reported killed and then dumped into the waters off Caubian Island in the search and retrieval operations officially ended yesterday with the divers finding nothing but a piece of blanket believed to be part of the cloth wrapped around the mayor’s body.
Lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, a member of the legal team advising the main suspect in the parricide case, Bohol Board Member Niño Rey Boniel, the victim’s husband, said the failure of the prosecution to produce the body of Gisela will create a doubt on whether the crime actually happened.
“There is a cloud of doubt because there are witnesses who stated that Gisela called them up 11 hours after she was reported dead,” Dela Cerna said.
PRO 7 legal officer Supt. Ehdel Pereira said the discovery of the body will only make the case stronger.
“If the body is not found, we still have strong case because we have evidence and witness testimonies to prove that Boniel was killed by her husband,” Pereira said.