MANILA — The Olongapo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) ordered the arrest of two suspects in the killing of businessman Dominic Sytin.
In an order dated July 29, Olongapo RTC Branch 72 Judge Richard Paradeza ordered the arrest of Dominic’s brother, businessman Dennis Sytin and Ryan Rementilla on charges of murder.
No bail was recommended by the court for the two suspects.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said that prosecutors will seek the transfer of the case to Manila from Olongapo City “for the safety and security of the witnesses principally, and to avoid any pressure upon the court and the prosecution, given the sphere of influence of the contending parties and the intense public interest generated by this sensational case”.
Dennis, meanwhile, cried foul over the decision of prosecutors to indict him and insists on his innocence of the charges.
“I will immediately file a petition for review with the office of the Secretary of Justice to reverse the DOJ’s wrong and baseless resolution. I am determined to immediately set aside the false and baseless charges against me as it is my right and the right of the clearly innocent to be free from the trouble, expense, and anxiety of a protracted trial,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
“It is unfortunate that I am being bound over to trial for a crime which I did not commit and which I had no knowledge, participation or involvement in — and worse ,one which is based solely on the confession of the supposed gunman, Edgard Luib, who being a complete stranger to me, fabricated supposed meetings with me that never occurred just to fill-up and make his story seem credible,” he added.
Dennis submitted the statements of his five witnesses and the affidavit of a forensic expert in his defense.
He said prosecutors ignored standing Supreme Court rulings which provide that probable cause must rest on “competent relevant evidence” and that “an extrajudicial confession is not the evidence competent to establish the probability that a person participated in the commission of a crime,”
Dennis, Luib, and Rementilla alias ‘Oliver Fuentes’ are facing charges over the shooting incident last November 28 in front of the Light House Hotel inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, which resulted in the death of Dominic and the wounding of his bodyguard, Efren Espartero Jr.
Luib was arrested in Batangas last March 5 due to existing arrest warrants over the killing of journalist Mae Magsino and Municipal Councilor Michael Caringal of Bauan, Batangas.