Flowers, candles offered but...:Still no Gisela

CEBU, Philippines - Oscar Bendong stood in silence at the rear end of the boat, his right hand clutching several pieces of white daisies.

He stared at the blue sea, raised his head, then uttered a short prayer before throwing the flowers and three 25-centavo coins into the water.

Moments later, he grabbed seven candles from his bag and began lighting them.

“Maoy tinuohan sa mga katigulangan. Nangaliyupo ko sa Kahitas-an, sa mga rayna sa kadagatan nga unta ihatag na ang atong gipangayo. Unta makit-an na siya (It’s an old belief. I was praying to the heavens, to the queens of the seas, for them to give what we are asking – that we’ll finally find her),” Bendong said.

Bendong, along with his brother and mother, travelled all the way from Siquijor to join yesterday’s Task Force Boniel, the ongoing retrieval operation for the body of his cousin Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Bendong Boniel.

Mayor Gisela was believed to have been shot dead, her body wrapped in a fishnet with rocks weighing about 30 kilos before it was dumped in the waters between Bien Unido in Bohol and Caubian Island in Lapu-Lapu City in a suspected case of parricide allegedly initiated by her husband, Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel.

Around noon last Monday, Mayor Gisela’s five brothers and sisters also visited the site at sea where they also offered flowers and recited the novena. They were escorted by Bien Unido fire marshal Senior Fire Officer 3 Edelberto Nuera.

Yesterday, the seventh day of search, a total of 14 divers – seven from Cebu and another seven sent by the municipal government of Bien Unido – took turns in scouring the 200-foot-deep waters in the hope of finding the mayor’s body.

They were joined by some policemen, members of the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, and several volunteers.

The team went back to shore with nothing.

Extended search

If the body remains elusive after 15 days, police will consider expanding their search to other areas based on the navy’s recommendation and after considering current flows, tides, and depths.

“We are looking at a period of fifteen days of search,” said Police Regional Office-7 Director Noli Taliño.

But the divers are not only pressed with time, they are also facing another challenge.

As days roll into week, some of the searchers are already beginning to feel the physical effects of deep diving, said Police Chief Inspector Jacinto Mandal, chief of Cebu City Police Station 4 who has been leading the divers.

“Naka-feel na ta og nitro sa atong kalawasan. Naa nay nanggawas nga mga hangin.Pero dili gihapon ta mohunong, padayon gihapon ta. Dako ang among pagtuo nga anaa lang siya sa palibot,” said Mandal.

Other volunteer divers from the private sector do not also mind.

“Wala ra mi naghuna-huna sa business loss kay ang amo nga nitabang lang mi kay dako ang among ikalipay nga makita si mayor. Sa kalipay sa atong kahago nga wala gyud nato siya lung-i sa pagpangita,” said Emie Bonghanoy, owner of a dive shop in Lapu-Lapu City.

Police Chief Inspector Junnel Caadlawon, operations chief at the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office and deputy commander for Task Force Boniel, called on other dive shops in Lapu-Lapu to help in the search.

Taliño said the search team has been scouring within a 1.5-kilometer radius off Caubian where the body was believed to have been thrown off based on the statements of witness-suspect Riolito Boniel.

“Actually yung vicinity ng pinagtapunan, nakalabas na tayo doon so yung radius ay medyo lumawak na. At kinu-consider na natin yung flow ng current kung saan dinala yung katawan, yun ang ginagawa ng search team natin doon,” he said.

The sole basis police have in locating Mayor Gisela’s body are two structures – one in Barangay Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City and another in Olango Island, which are both visible from sea.  These were consistently described by Niño Rey’s cousin Riolito, who earlier claimed having maneuvered the boat used to dispose of the mayor’s body.

 “Hanggang ngayon consistent pa rin ang ating witness so yun pa rin ang pinaniwalaan natin. (It’s difficult) puro tubig kasi,” the PRO-7 chief said.

Police will take into account the possibility that the current might have taken the cadaver to other nearby waters, even as far as Camotes Islands.

“Depende, pero masyadong malayo doon kung papunta ng Camotes,” Taliño said.

Just in case, Taliño said the three police stations there will be alerted so they can immediately report sightings of floating body within their jurisdictions.

But Taliño expressed optimism on the case, saying that even without presenting the body of Mayor Gisela, evidence and witnesses can fully support the parricide charges against Niño Rey.

The Crime Laboratory already took samples of saliva from Mayor Gisela’s sibling and police will soon compare the results to the blood stains recovered from a pump boat in Barangay Maningin, Bien Unido, which was allegedly used in the crime.

Investigators hope to take samples directly from either a parent or a child as it will cut short the DNA typing procedure. Gisela and Niño Rey have a four-year-old son.

Retrieval aid

In Bien Unido, the town council has already green-lighted the release of P100,000 in funds to support the search and retrieval operation, according to municipal disaster risk reduction and management council head Arcele Avenido.

“I called up the CDRRMO of Lapu-Lapu to ask what we can offer, and they said nga from police to police na. So among gikontak among hepe, si Sir Libcas, unya sila’y nakig-coordinate sa city director sa Lapu-Lapu. What they need daw are divers nga makatabang pag-dive sa mga mabaw-mabaw nga part ug kung naa po’y food puwede ra,” Avenido said.

Avenido also countered earlier speculations that the local government unit of Bien Unido has not been supportive of the operation.

“The acting mayor (Rene Borenaga) is suporta siya sa retrieval ug unsay gi-need, anytime puwede ra kaduol. First time pa ni namo, nakahibawo ra mi sa media sa nahitabo. We’re really at a loss, wala pa mi kahibawo og asa mi magsugod,” she said.

“Naghugot mi og strength from one another,” she added.

Avenido also said the municipal hall in Bien Unido has since opened to government transactions, with the situation there going back to normal.

“Nihangyo si acting mayor nga padayon sa pagserbisyo sa among constituents. Emotionally, dili pa normal but sa trabahuon okay na,” she said. (FREEMAN)