WHAT WENT BEFORE: Dominic Lim Sytin slaying

On Nov. 28, 2018, businessman Dominic Lim Sytin was shot dead as he left Lighthouse Marina Resort Hotel at Subic Bay Freeport. He was 51 years old.

Sytin was the founder and chief executive officer of United Auctioneers Inc., a company in Subic that buys and sells heavy equipment.

He gained prominence in the early 2000s when he entered the used-vehicle import scene, bringing in used right-hand drive cars, vans and sport utility vehicles through the free port and converting them to left-hand drive.

His business model was immediately welcomed by consumers but assailed by established businesses in the industry.

After a few years, Sytin’s enterprise has grown into an empire that includes the distributorship of Chinese truck maker Foton, a power generation project in Bukidnon, a mobile phone distributorship, and a resort hotel in Subic Bay Freeport.

Investigators zeroed in on the business transactions of Sytin as, according to the police, the trader had received death threats from people “engaged in the same industry or business.” —Inquirer Research