The Taguig City Regional Trial Court has ruled that Joseph C. Sy, former chairman of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. (FNI), is a Filipino citizen, ordering his immediate release from detention and halting deportation proceedings initiated by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
In her ruling, Judge Paz Esperanza M. Cortez of RTC Branch 271 in Taguig declared the actions of the BI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Senate committee to be legally unsound, citing a lack of due process and reliance on questionable, photocopied documents.
“There is no proof or allegation of any citizenship change of Joseph Cue Sy,” Judge Cortez wrote. “These acts violate our basic rules on evidence and, more important, the fundamental right of every person to due process.”
Sy was arrested without a warrant at NAIA Terminal 3 on 21 August after returning from a business trip. Authorities had claimed he was a Chinese national posing as Filipino, drawing comparisons to controversial figure Alice Guo.
Sy’s legal team, led by Carla E. Santamaria-Seña and Dennis P. Manalo, called the court decision a landmark pushback against administrative abuse, saying, “Filipino citizenship cannot be stripped away by speculation, recycled cases, or administrative overreach.”
Sy’s arrest led to Dante R. Bravo’s election as chairman and president of FNI, with Sy taking a leave of absence but retaining a seat on the board. The company said the move reflects a “commitment to allowing Mr. Sy to focus on resolving his personal legal matters while safeguarding the best interests of the company.”
The decision may influence ongoing debates around citizenship verification, executive accountability, and government handling of high-profile deportation cases.
