Sons of slain Pangasinan mayor link LP bet to dad’s killing

DAGUPAN CITY—The family of the slain Mayor Ruperto Martinez of Infanta town on Monday linked a vice mayoral candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) to the mayor’s murder in December last year.

In a sworn statement submitted to the provincial prosecutor’s office in Alaminos City, Richard and Marvin Martinez, sons of the slain mayor, accused vice mayoral candidate Florante Miano of involvement in the death of their father.

Mayor Martinez was shot by two men in front of his house in Barangay Cato in Infanta on Dec. 15. Two suspects were arrested two days after the killing and are now detained at the Pangasinan provincial jail.

Miano, a lawyer, could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.

Based on the charge sheet, Miano lives in Isla Payong-Payong in Barangay Batang in Infanta.

The Martinez brothers said Miano allegedly threatened their father many times after he allowed the construction of a port in the town.

“He did not only say it, but he even wrote his threats against our father in a pamphlet,” the brothers said.

The pamphlet was allegedly distributed by Miano, who is the late mayor’s opponent in the vice mayoral race in May.

“Because our father was not a violent person, he just ignored [Miano’s] threats at first,” the Martinezes said.

But later on, they said, they noticed that their father seemed to be uneasy and afraid because somebody had threatened to kill him.

“He later told us that if something bad happens to him, no one else is to blame but Attorney Miano,” the Martinezes said.

On Feb. 12, the National Bureau of Investigation filed mur- der charges against Gov. Amado Espino Jr., Pangasinan Rep. Jesus Celeste and a local newspaper publisher in connection with Mayor Martinez’s death.

The complaint was filed on the basis of a testimony of a 16year-old boy, who is the publisher’s son, that he heard Espino and Celeste talk about killing Martinez.

Espino and Celeste had denied the accusations, saying Martinez was their longtime po- litical ally and friend.

The Martinez brothers said they filed the complaint against Miano to seek justice for the death of their father and for the true perpetrators to be punished.

“[They are] not Governor Espino and Congressman Celeste, who [the NBI] insists were behind the killing … We know that they did not have anything to do with the death of our father,” the brothers said.