Risa raises alarm: ‘Alice Guo 2.0’ joined PCG auxiliary
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday raised a national security alarm following the arrest of a businessman, who allegedly misrepresented himself as a Filipino and was even appointed to the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA) service in 2018.
Joseph Sy, chair of publicly listed mining company Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., has been detained by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for reportedly holding fraudulently acquired Philippine identity documents, saying his real name is Chen Zhong Zhen.
Sy, 60, is now facing a deportation case for misrepresentation.
A PCG document dated July 26, 2018, which was provided by Hontiveros’ office, showed that pursuant to PCG Memorandum Circular 01-14 dated June 6, 2014, Sy was appointed by then Adm. Elson Hermogino to the service of the PCGA Executive Squadron with the honorary rank of auxiliary commodore.
“He is like Alice Guo Part 2. He posed as a Filipino, he has a fake passport, and fake IDs. It seems that the loopholes in processing our nationality remain. While joining the PCGA is voluntary and nongovernment, it’s still sad to imagine that Sy managed to access people and events where our national security can be discussed,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, linked to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator hubs in her town, had little public record of her past, prompting the Senate to question her identity and citizenship last year. Guo, whom a Manila court declared as Chinese, is detained at the Pasig City Jail. She faces multiple charges, including 62 counts of money laundering and qualified trafficking.
“If this businessman is indeed a Chinese national masquerading as Filipino, the Senate must immediately probe his affiliations, background and the circumstances under which he obtained his Philippine documents. We should look into who enabled him and how deep his network goes,” she added.
Previous rulings
However, Sy’s associates in the business community claim otherwise.
On Monday, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines urged local authorities to uphold due process and immediately release Sy, arguing that “anything less erodes trust in our institutions and weakens the country’s standing before local and international investors.”
“His continued detention on mere suspicion of being an alien, without lawful basis and outside the BI’s jurisdiction, is a grave injustice and a violation of the fundamental principles of due process,” added the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA).
The two groups stressed that Sy’s arrest had no lawful basis and violated his fundamental rights guaranteed by the Philippines, even as the BI already affirmed his citizenship in two separate rulings.
Global Ferronickel also insisted that Sy is a Filipino citizen, as affirmed by at least six rulings from the BI, the Department of Justice, the Office of the President, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the high court.
“This incident sends the wrong message to the business and investment community,” the PNIA warned.
Misrepresentation
According to the BI, Sy was arrested on Aug. 21 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 as soon as he arrived on board a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong where he was intercepted by front-line immigration officers.
It added that Sy was found to be using a Philippine passport issued in 2021 and was in possession of several Philippine identity cards showing he is a Filipino.
However, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said that their Alien Registration Division was able to confirm that his fingerprints matched those of a Chinese citizen, Chen Zhong Zhen, who previously held a long-term visa and an Alien Certificate Registration Identity Card.
In 2014, then Magsasaka party list Rep. Argel Cabatbat accused Sy of using forged papers to secure his passport.
In 2015, then Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison claimed Sy misrepresented himself as Filipino after failing to provide any proof of nationality, including Philippine school records, work history or identification cards from 1966 to 2007.
