Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI) detained chairman, Joseph Sy, is set to walk out a free man from his Bureau of Immigration (BI) detention cell, courtesy of a decision issued yesterday by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Taguig, on the strength of a “very urgent motion for execution pending appeal and admission to post bond ad cautelam.”
FNI, in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, said that the RTC observed the BI’s “glaring lack of execution” of the earlier Writ of Habeas Corpus, and consequently issued a Writ of Execution directing Sy’s release from detention upon posting of a prescribed bond.
“This ruling constitutes a judicial affirmation that Mr. Sy’s continued detention had no legal basis and upholds his fundamental rights as a Filipino citizen,” FNI explained.
Sy was arrested by the BI, and remains under detention following his arrest last August 21, 2025.
The BI claimed that he had misrepresented himself as a Filipino, and was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong. He is still being held, as of presstime, at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, pending deportation proceedings.
The BI claimed that Sy carries a Philippine passport issued in 2021, and several locally issued identification cards. But the agency’s Alien Registration Division matched his fingerprints to a Chinese national who was previously granted with a long-term visa and an Alien Certificate of Registration identity card.
Last September 6, lawyers Carla Santamaria-Seña and Dennis Manalo, who serves as the legal counsel of Sy, already mentioned that the RTC’s move rules out that “the BI has no jurisdiction to detain or deport a Filipino.”
“Echoing the long-standing doctrine in Chua Hiong v. Deportation Board, the Court stressed that the power to deport is limited to aliens only. Where a person is shown to be a citizen, deportation proceedings are void and may be summarily enjoined in the courts,” the lawyers argued.
The defense lawyers adroitly pointed out that the Court affirmed that Sy’s citizenship is firmly established as multiple government agencies including the BI itself, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the President, and even the Supreme Court have upheld his Filipino nationality in prior proceedings.
“To allow the BI to recycle accusations already settled would be a violation of finality of judgments,” the lawyers said.
“The BI’s reliance on a bare biometrics certification—unsupported by fingerprint records or credible corroboration—was found gravely inadequate. Based on these findings, the RTC declared the BI’s proceedings illegal and ordered Mr. Sy’s immediate release,” the statement added.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said that the continued detention of Sy despite an order for his immediate release is undermining the national image as a destination for foreign investments not only for the Philippine mining industry but for the whole business community.
“Sy, as chair of the PCCI mining industry committee, is leading a consortium of Filipino mining companies, to help set up the transition from making the Philippines just as an exporter of raw mineral ores to an exporter for higher value added processed products. The integrity and credibility of this massive effort, which requires huge capital mobilization and takes at least five years to execute, is put at risk if the court’s order for Sy’s release is delayed,” PCCI added.
The group added that the Philippines is already “suffering” in other sectors such as tourism due to the uncertainties in the country’s business environment as a result of inconsistencies in policy implementation and adherence to the rule of law.
