Lacson again raises alarm over Sino spies
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will keep mining executive Joseph Sy in custody pending an appeal to the Court of Appeals and amid national security concerns over Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s claim that Chinese sleeper agents have already embedded themselves in the country.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told reporters on Sunday that they would not yet release Sy, chair of Global Ferronickel, who was allegedly misrepresented as a Filipino, although his records show he is Chinese.
The Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 271 granted the businessman’s petition for habeas corpus and ordered his release, but Sandoval said they filed a notice of appeal before the RTC and were told to elevate the case to the Court of Appeals.
Sy, also allegedly known as Chen Zhong Zhen, was arrested on Aug. 21 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport after arriving from Hong Kong for reportedly holding fraudulent Philippine documents.
According to authorities, Sy’s fingerprints matched those of a Chinese national who previously held a long-term visa and an Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card.
The BI said that while it respected the court’s decision, it maintained that there was strong evidence against the alleged Chinese national, backed by the biometric records of the bureau.
After Sy’s arrest, Lacson reiterated at a hearing of the Senate committee on national defense and security, peace, unification and reconciliation on Aug. 27 that security agencies to dismantle the espionage network because they are reportedly replaced quickly.
Continuing action needed
“The whole network of espionage operations must be dismantled or at least decimated to a large degree because agents come and go. You arrest one, someone will replace him,” Lacson said. “And I have on good information of many sleeper agents, even regular members of [Chinese People’s Liberation Army] are already here and it’s widespread.”
Lacson, who was mainly an intelligence officer during his decades of service to the Philippine Constabulary and Philippine National Police, cited data from the National Bureau of Investigation that at least 13 Chinese nationals, one Cambodian and five Filipinos have been charged with espionage.
Lacson said these agents were found gathering information from places like Palawan, Makati, Dumaguete, near Camp Aguinaldo, the Commission on Elections office in Manila and even Malacañang.
The senator urged the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze the assets of those involved, similar to the case of former Mayor Alice Guo, who was also found to have misrepresented herself as Filipino before being elected mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.
Despite Lacson’s warning, however, they pushed for the easing of visa policy, including the resumption of e-Visa program in China, to ease travel and stimulate demand from its outbound market.
“While many of our Asean neighbors have eased or waived requirements and reaped significant gains, the suspension of the Philippines’ e-visa program—combined with strict daily visa caps for free independent travelers (FITs)—constrains our ability to serve charter flights that typically operate two to three times a week,” it said.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) said appointment slots for FITs or those who book their own flights and hotels remain “limited” while group visa applications are “restricted to only twice a week.”
The DOT argued that visa requirements “directly stimulates demand” as seen in the sharp turnaround in arrivals from other source market.
Citing an example, the DOT said Indian arrivals already rebounded from a -21 percent growth rate at the end of January 2025 to 4.93 percent as of end-August 2025, following the granting of visa-free privileges to India beginning June 8.
The latest Indian arrival data also translates to a 5.01 percent increase against the 2024 figures as of Sept. 5, 2025.
Prior to the pandemic, China was the country’s second top source market with 1.7 million visitors in 2019, lagging only behind South Korea with 1.9 million.
Arrivals from the Chinese market from January to August decreased by 24.40 percent to 182,228 from the 241,041 recorded in the same period last year. —WITH A REPORT FROM PNA
