PCCI exec faces raps for faking citizenship

An executive of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is facing a string of criminal charges before the Department of Justice for allegedly faking his Filipino citizenship to put up businesses in the country.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended the prosecution of Joseph Cue Sy, PCCI board member and head of mining industry committee, for falsification of public documents under Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code and violations of Republic Act 8239 or the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 and the Anti-Dummy law.

A report of the NBI Environmental Crimes Division dated June 26 showed that Sy falsified his Filipino citizenship to meet the foreign ownership limit under the Constitution when he put up his firms, Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. and Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC).

NBI probers, led by special agents Reynaldo Remo and Irvin Garcia, cited the questionable public records of Sy, including his passport and birth certificate.

Based on the certificate of live birth issued by the Quezon City Office of the Civil Registrar, Sy was born on Oct. 10, 1966 in Novaliches. The certificate was based on his Affidavit of Late Registration of Birth executed on Dec. 28, 2007.

The Department of Foreign Affairs furnished the NBI Sy’s records, which stated that his passport was issued on Feb. 13, 2001.

NBI probers questioned why Sy was able to get a passport in 2001 when he did not have a birth certificate – a requirement for issuance of passport – until December 2007.

The report also disproved Sy’s claim that his parents, Emilio Sy and Aida Cue, were married in Balanga, Bataan in 1964. The provincial civil registrar certified that there was no such record of marriage and their records of marriage for 1964 are still intact in the archives of their office.

The PCCI executive claimed that he was baptized at the Christ the King Parish in 1966 by Fr. Antonio Abuan. But an investigation by the NBI showed that Abuan served in the parish from 1997 to 1999.

The NBI probe stemmed from the complaint of Nestor Cas, who filed a deportation case against Sy before the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

The deportation case against Sy is still pending before the BI board after Cas filed an omnibus motion for reconsideration following the dismissal of the case on Feb. 26.

Cas said the BI board committed grave abuse of discretion when it “conducted a hearing without informing and allowing him to present evidence.”

He only learned that the BI had dismissed the case after reading the story in the March 11 issue of The STAR.

Cas said the BI board of special inquiry failed to require Sy to appear during the course of the deportation proceedings.

For lack of due notice, he said he was not able to submit evidence to prove his allegations that Sy is not a Filipino citizen. –