Supreme Court orders release of mining tycoon Joseph Sy amid citizenship dispute

Joseph Sy attends the Senate inquiry on Dec. 15, 2025 which tackled the alleged abuse of identity documents reserved to Filipino citizens by foreign nationals.

Senate of the Philippines - Social Media Unit

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has ordered the release of Globe-Ferronickel chairman Joseph Sy.

In a resolution dated October 7, the high court granted a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction.

According to a copy of the order obtained by Philstar.com, the order took effect upon the posting of a P900,000.00 cash bond.

On Aug. 21, 2025, Sy was intercepted and detained by Bureau of Immigration personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) upon his arrival from Hong Kong.

The bureau acted on a mission order issued by Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado, claiming that Sy was an alias for Zhong Zhen Chen, a Chinese national who had allegedly misrepresented himself as a Filipino.

To support their claim, immigration officials presented fingerprint evidence from an Alien Certificate of Registration issued 29 years ago, which they said matched the fingerprints on Sy's Philippine passport.

However, Sy’s representative, Dante Bravo, filed a petition for habeas corpus, arguing that Sy is a Filipino citizen.

Bravo provided Sy's Certificate of Live Birth, issued through late registration in 2007, which identifies him as a Filipino born in Quezon City to Filipino parents.

Sy also holds a Philippine passport valid until 2031 and various other government identification cards.

On February 20, the Court of Appeals ruled that Sy’s continued detention was unlawful, finding that the Bureau of Immigration cannot institute summary deportation proceedings against someone with a valid birth certificate.

In a statement, the Bureau of Immigration said that it would respect the Supreme Court’s decision.

However, the bureau emphasized that Sy's release from custody does not “constitute a final determination of the questions surrounding his citizenship and identity.”

“It is also noted that the case before the Supreme Court is an appeal in the Habeas Corpus Petition involving Mr. Sy, which only involves questions on legality of his detention, and not a determination on his citizenship,” the Bureau of Immigration’s statement read.

“The Bureau acted in the exercise of its statutory mandate to investigate questions concerning immigration status, identity, and citizenship documentation,” it added.