Embattled mining executive Joseph Sy remains in Bureau of Immigration (BI) custody despite multiple court orders for his release, his legal team told a Senate subcommittee on Monday.

This comes as the BI seeks Sy’s deportation for allegedly falsifying identity records to pose as a Filipino citizen.

To recall, BI commissioner Joel Anthony Viado told the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights that the agency established that Sy shares the same fingerprints as a Chinese national named Chen Zhong Zhen.

However, Sy’s counsel Atty. Alma Mallonga, argued that her client is being held illegally. She cited that a petition for habeas corpus was granted in September 2025 and that the Court of Appeals has also ordered his release.

“The BI has continued to refuse to release Mr. Sy,” Mallonga told senators.

The hearing, held 15 December, examined whether Sy’s case involves national security. Representatives from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the National Security Council (NSC) testified that they found no evidence linking Sy to espionage or other security threats.

NICA added that previous legal proceedings against him had been dismissed.

Questions were also raised regarding Sy’s past membership in the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Coast Guard officials clarified that his role was civilian and voluntary, focused on humanitarian aid, and did not grant him access to classified information. Sy has since been delisted from the organization.

During the proceedings, Sy formally invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination, declining to answer questions about his birthplace or schooling. He cited the ongoing deportation case as the reason for his silence.

The BI maintains it has "strong evidence" against Sy, drawing parallels to the identity case of dismissed mayor Alice Guo. Viado said that immigration records show Chen Zhong Zhen previously admitted to being Joseph Sy.

While security agencies have ruled out a threat to the state, the BI continues to pursue the cancellation of Sy’s Philippine passport and his eventual deportation.