MANILA, Philippines — Joseph Sy, a mining executive arrested over fraudulent Philippine citizenship, was born and raised in China, a Senate panel found yesterday.
Sy’s alleged links with the Communist Party of China were also flagged by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
Authorities arrested the chairman of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. on Aug. 21 for allegedly using fake documents to secure Philippine citizenship and a post in the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA).
In a privilege speech, Hontiveros said Sy, whose hinese name is Chen Zhong Zhen, is the honorary chair of the Philippine Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce (PSRCIC).
Photos showed Sy attending the CPC and World Political Parties Summit in 2021 as a ranking official of the PSRCIC.
Sy’s group is also involved in China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, Hontiveros said.
A Chinese news outlet’s feature on Sy identified him as Shi Zhenzhong, a native of Donghua village in Fujian province who moved to the Philippines at the age of 17, rose to prominence and donated funds for parks and schools in his hometown.
Hontiveros flagged Sy’s companies for exporting the country’s raw nickel to China at his smelting plant, Guangdong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Co.
Sy’s Ipilan Nickel Corp. operated without a mayor’s permit and despite a canceled environmental compliance certificate in Palawan, she said.
The senator questioned the presence of Sy’s company in Palawan, the province on the frontline of the maritime conflict with China due to its proximity to the Spratly Islands.
“When a person of questionable citizenship operates in this sector, we are effectively allowing foreign actors to strip our land of wealth while exploiting vulnerabilities and loopholes in our own system,” she said.
Sy’s fingerprints provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs matched a Chinese national’s Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card from the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Hontiveros suspected that Sy obtained his citizenship through a late birth certification registration, the same method used by detained former Bamban mayor and alleged Chinese spy Alice Guo, who is facing human trafficking charges for her role in illegal offshore gaming activities.
A Senate resolution seeking an inquiry into the “suspicious circumstances” of Sy, “who allegedly falsified his status as a Filipino citizen,” has been filed by Hontiveros.
Sy has been stripped of his post as auxiliary commodore in the auxiliary executive squadron of the PCG.
PCGA data spill possible
The PCG has confirmed that foreigners, including Chinese nationals, joined its auxiliary force as far back as the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
These foreigners may have extracted sensitive government data due to their access to agency functions, the PCG admitted.
“We could not say that categorically (foreigners in the auxiliary do not pose national security threats) because they are also attending some of our functions. Intelligence can be gathered from different sources,” PCG Capt. Xerxes Fernandez said at yesterday’s Senate defense panel hearing.
The PCGA, a socio-civic arm of the coast guard, had admitted foreigners since “there were no perceived threats” of foreign interference at the time, he noted.
Auxiliary forces were not originally seen as a security risk as they functioned like a “Rotary or Lions Club,” he added.
Many of its members, he said, are ship or boat owners who can be tapped for search-and-rescue operations.
Sy, the latest PCGA member to be delisted, held the rank of honorary commodore, equivalent to a one-star general, Fernandez said.
Thirty-six Chinese PCGA members were delisted last year.
Not his first time
This is not the first time that Sy is facing a deportation complaint for falsifying his Filipino citizenship as a complaint was filed in 2015, according to the BI.
Due to a lack of evidence, the complaint did not prosper, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told radio dzBB.
As mentioned in the column “Hidden Agenda” published by The STAR on March 11, 2015, a certain Nestor Cas filed a complaint against Sy.
“But during that time, there was no evidence against Sy,” Sandoval noted.
The BI is reviewing the nationality of Sy’s family members.
“Sy has been here for decades already, before 1992, and that was how he obtained a long-term visa. In our immigration records, he was identified as a businessman,” Sandoval said.
Sy received his visa through the Alien Social Integration Act of 1995, allowing him to establish a business, she added.
“If a foreigner wants to become a Filipino, he has to be naturalized. In this case, he is saying that he is a natural-born Filipino when he is not even naturalized,” she said.
Sandoval said they are processing Sy’s deportation.
Sleeper agent
Many Chinese sleeper agents and operatives of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been quietly embedded in the Philippines, Sen. Panfilo Lacson warned yesterday as he pressed security and intelligence agencies to dismantle what he described as a widespread espionage network.
Lacson said arrests made in previous operations are far from enough since spy networks quickly replenish their ranks.
“I have good information that there are many sleeper agents and regular members of the PLA here. It’s widespread,” he said during deliberations on proposed anti-espionage laws, including his Senate Bill 33.
The Philippines is still relying on the outdated Commonwealth Act 616 of 1941 to address espionage while foreign agents continue their operations unchecked, he pointed out.
Nineteen people accused of espionage have been arrested: 13 Chinese, one Cambodian and five Filipinos who acted as guides, drivers or aides, according to National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Ferdinand Lavin.
Arrests occurred not only in Palawan, Makati and Dumaguete, but also “alarmingly” near power centers, such as Camp Aguinaldo, the main office of the Commission on Elections and Malacañang, Lacson stressed.
Espionage cases should not end with the filing of charges as it “entails more intelligence and follow-up operations,” he emphasized.
Complacency would give foreign agents room to regroup, he said.
Lacson called on the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to target the financial backbone of espionage groups by freezing their assets, citing its swift action in the case of former mayor Guo.
The AMLC, meanwhile, said it anticipates the new bill as it would identify espionage as a predicate offense to money laundering, which empowers the agency to step up in such cases.
Beware of spyware
Equipment donated by other countries should be checked for possible spyware, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said.
Computers and closed-circuit television cameras must be monitored, he noted.
“Maybe we can add it in the bill… a component or a section, which will recall all donated articles or items, materials from countries that are hostile to the Philippines,” he said.
China donated hundreds of computers to the Philippine National Police and Department of the Interior and Local Government, Zubiri recalled officials admitting during earlier briefings.
Deputy director Lavin said the NBI’s cybercrime and digital forensics divisions would reach out to the business community to monitor purchases, especially since threat actors can buy “simple equipment” for espionage.
“Stricter regulations can be imposed on equipment purchases. Serial numbers in receipts enable easy monitoring,” he noted.
Hontiveros, meanwhile, highlighted how legal mechanisms against social and investment arrangements with other countries need to be revisited due to possible risks of economic interference. – Evelyn Macairan, Neil Jayson Servallos