By Jeffrey Damicog
Businessman Dennis Sytin was charged with murder before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly masterminding the killing of his older brother Dominic in Olongapo City last November.
The diagram of the Dominic Sytin murder case
(AARON RECUENCO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Dominic’s wife, Anna Marietta, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Olongapo City Police Station filed the complaint Friday before the DOJ in Manila.
In the complaint, Dennis was accused of committing murder and frustrated murder in connection with the shooting incident which took place on Nov. 28, 2018, in front of the Light House Hotel inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone that resulted in the killing of Dominic and the wounding of his bodyguard Efren Espartero Jr.
Also named as respondents in the case was the suspected gunman Edgardo Luib and Oliver Fuentes, a former employee of the Dominic who is also the president of United Auctioneers Inc. (UAI).
The complaint was filed following the PNP’s arrest of the gunman in Batangas last March 5.
Luib was arrested on the strength of existing arrest warrants for other murder cases he is facing that included those for the killing of journalist Mae Magsino and Municipal Councilor Michael Caringal of Bauan, Batangas.
In the referral letter to the DOJ, Olongapo City Police Station officer-in-charge Sr. Insp. Ailyn Rosario said Luib has executed an extra-judicial confession which stated “how he (Edgardo Luib) committed the killing of Dominic Sytin and wounding Efren Espartero Jr. on the night of November 28, 2018.”
“Edgardo Luib likewise stated that a certain Dennis Sytin was the one who induced him to kill Dominic Sytin in exchange of reward money thru contact person Oliver Fuentes a.k.a Ryan Rementilla who was said to be his childhood friend,” Rosario added in the complaint said.
Rosario also indicated that during the course of the investigation investigators found that Fuentes was fired in August last year by Dominic over allegations of job orders padding and proliferation of illegal drugs, as well as for being charged the following October before the Bataan Provincial Office with a case for qualified theft.
The PNP had earlier revealed that there was a dispute between the Sytin brothers over shares and control over UIA.
UIA, which is engaged in the importation of secondhand vehicles, has only five shareholders including the siblings with 20 percent each.