Oh well, I guess it's another Champion rule exception "Emeritus Champion" explanation was suppose to be for Champions that retire and then come out of retirement to fight for a Championship belt, allowing him to bypass the #1 challenger spot.

If you read between the lines, It all about collecting sanctioning fees for the WBC. If they simply strip Martinez, then they lose any potential sanctioning fee. By making Martinez a Emeritus Champion they are able to send him a bill in the future and still collect sactioing fees from the new Champion that is given the belt.