Suspect in killing of teacher in Lanao Norte motorcycle robbery arrested

ILIGAN CITY——A 37-year-old teacher was found dead on Wednesday (Nov. 4) in Kolambugan town, Lanao del Norte, apparently killed by robbers who were after his motorcycle.

Arthur Torres, Jr., a public school teacher in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental, was reported missing on Oct. 31.

According to Maj. Salman Saad, public information chief of the Lanao del Norte police office, several passersby at Pantar village reported smelling a foul odor which was traced to a decomposing body at the nearby Baybay village.

The body was later identified as that of Torres, and it bore multiple stab wounds.

Torres, son of a town councilor, was found about 5 kilometers from his family’s home. He was last seen riding his motorcycle.

Saad said Torres was killed in a robbery with one of the suspects, identified as Mark Miano, 33, arrested in Tangcal town on Thursday (Nov. 5).

Miano is a resident of Austin Heights village in Kolambugan town.

The suspects, Saad said, took Torres’ motorcycle and sold it for P10,000 in Munai town.

Torres’ other belongings were intact but his money was gone, according to Maj. Rey Odchique, officer-in-charge of the Kolambugan police.

Odchique said leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and village chiefs of Tangcal town helped police locate one of the suspects, who had been hiding in the house of relatives.

TSB