All of the suspects are police officers belonging to the City Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force (CAIDTF) of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO).
"Sakit kaayo ang nahitabo sa akong anak. Kung nakasala siya gidakop lang unta nila wala patya mao nga dili ko mosugot anang negotiation (What happened to my son is unbearable. If he violated anything they should just have arrested him and not kill him. That is why I will not negotiate with them.)," the elder Martinez said.
There are rumors of on-going negotiations between the father of the victim and the suspected law enforcers. One hundred thousand was said to have been offered to the family of the salvage victim for them to drop the case.
The elder Martinez said unidentified men have also been seen these past few days snooping around on board a banca.
The Martinez residence is located along the river in Barangay 14. There were no death threats, however, although Martinez said the presence of unidentified men is disconcerting.
Martinez has also filed a complaint before the Human Rights Commission (HRC) last week aside from the murder case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Northern Mindanao at the City Prosecutor's Office last December 17.
City Prosecutor Fidel Macauyag has already directed the accused law enforcers, Police Officer (PO) 2 Rommel Pontillas, PO3 Bangcola Manangcawal, and a still unidentified police officer to answer the complaint against them within 10 days.
Thirty-year-old Robert Martinez was found dead at the remote area of Barangay Balulang this city with bruises, stab wounds and five gunshot wounds.
Five law enforcers from Cocpo were initially named as suspects for the murder but witnesses positively identified only Pontillas and Manangcawal as the lawmen who mauled and shot Martinez at the basement parking area of Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes along Capistrano Street.
Of the five law enforcers summoned by the NBI, only Senior Police Office 3 Jerry Abella and SPO1 Wilson Estenzo, Jr. appeared before the NBI. Manangcawal was represented by his attorney.
