Dumaguete police have filed charges before the City Prosecutor’s Office against two suspects in last year’s killing of lawyer Archer Martinez.
Supt. Leo Tolentino, Dumaguete police chief, named one of the two suspects as Emmanuel Banaay of Cebu. The other suspect was the yet unnamed gunman.
Tolentino told the MetroPost that Banaay’s name cropped up as a suspect in the Aug. 5, 2011 killing following a tip from the Danao City police and from former Negros Oriental Police Director, Sr. Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas.
According to Tolentino, Banaay’s involvement in the killing surfaced after a Danao resident named Ian Lao told Danao police that Banaay paid him P20,000 in July last to look for a gunman to kill Atty. Archer Martinez in Dumaguete City. Lao said he was paid another P80,000 by Banaay but he was unable to find a gunman, although he later learned that Atty. Martinez was shot and killed by a lone gunman inside his office along San Jose St. last August 5.
Lao went to the Danao City police last February after Banaay started to pressure him to pay back the money. Lao was later shot dead last March 4 in Danao City.
Tolentino said Banaay’s photo was positively identified by witnesses as the one who was standing by the building’s entrance.
The Dumaguete police chief also said they are now gathering evidence against the suspected mastermind in the killing of Martinez, who is a resident of Negros Oriental.
