Dumaguete Bizman shot dead police say victim had pending cases

CEBU, Philippines - The Dumaguete City Police is now digging deeper in its investigation into the murder of a 43-year-old businessman early morning on Father's Day (June 16), and one of the leads being pursued was his alleged involvement in the buy-and-sell of "hot cars" with few cases against him yet pending in court.

The victim, identified as Allan Esmero Laurente, was a used-car dealer and owner of Virgo Motors in Sibulan town of Negros Oriental. He sustained several gunshot wounds in his body, one in the left temple, the slug of which exited in his left eye, one in the left chest and one in the abdomen. He died on the spot.

Witnesses from a distance disclosed they first heard two bursts of gun fire and, after a lull of few minutes, two more gun fires were heard before the attackers fled.

Laurente was biking alone at the outskirt village of Camanjac when shot two men, riding in tandem, came up to him and shot him at close range. The identities of the assailants have remained unknown to this day, and investigators also failed to recover slugs or spent shells of bullets from the crime scene.

Further investigations showed that the victim had received several death threats long before when he was still in the rent-a-motorcycle business, a situation that his live-in partner had confirmed, but the police would not elaborate.

Superintendent James Goforth, Dumaguete City Police chief, admitted that probers may be facing a difficult case because the suspects were wearing helmets and the backrider was wearing a black jacket, but results of a background check on the victim showed several angles for the police to follow.

During the investigation, Laurente's name cropped up in the selling of allegedly carnapped vehicles although records showed that two anti-carnapping and anti-fencing charges against him were dismissed in 2011.

This year, Laurente was facing at least three cases of anti-fencing: A Mitsubishi Strada bought from Virgo Motors by Rosemarie Camero Gemira of Sta. Agueda in Pamplona in the amount of P950,000; sale of a Toyota Vios Azure to Felicisimo Saycon Jr  (P400,000); and an Isuzu Sportivo sold to Elinita Modida of Manjuyod town (P650,000).

Laurente was also linked to the killing of lawyer Archer Baldwin Martinez, vice president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Negros Oriental chapter, who was gunned down by hired guns more than a year ago in the city. It was gathered from the police that the gunman and witnesses to the lawyer-slay were also killed later on.

Goforth said all of these were possibilities aside from the angle of the victim's family life. He said the assailants of Laurente could be hired guns, as evidenced by the manner the victim was gunned down, and possibly with the use of a .38-caliber revolver or a .357-caliber revolver.  (FREEMAN)