Businessman Joseph Sy has resigned as a director of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., with the company citing personal reasons amid lingering questions over his citizenship.
In a disclosure released Friday, December 26, the mining firm said Sy’s resignation took effect immediately.
“His decision was due to personal considerations and for the best interests of the Company,” it said, adding that it appreciates his service and contributions during his tenure.
Sy had taken a voluntary leave of absence in August, shortly before facing a Senate committee hearing on December 15 that scrutinized his identity.
During the hearing, he was questioned on allegations that he is a Chinese national known as Chen Zhong Zhen or Shi Zhenzong, based on fingerprint analysis by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Risa Hontiveros, who led the probe, referred to him as the “Alice Guo 2.0.”
Guo, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, was accused of being a Chinese spy and linked to illegal offshore gaming operations.
The BI arrested Sy at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on August 21 for allegedly using illegally acquired Philippine documents. He was detained at the BI facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending deportation.
The bureau has since appealed a Court of Appeals ruling that ordered his release.
Earlier, the Taguig Regional Trial Court affirmed Sy’s Filipino citizenship and ordered his release from BI custody.
At the Senate hearing, Sy confirmed that he is the honorary chairperson of the Philippine Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce but denied any connection to China’s Belt and Road Initiative or the Chinese Communist Party. He also disclosed that he previously served as an honorary consul of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in Davao.