Sister Fox on extended stay in Philippines: ‘Temporary victory’
MANILA, Philippines — “Temporary victory.”
That was how an elderly Australian nun fighting deportation after landing in President Rodrigo Duterte’s crosshairs described the Department of Justice’s order that gave her more time to stay in the Philippines, as she also vowed to remain watchful as the case develops.
Patricia Fox, 71, was given until June 18, 2018 to leave the country following a last-minute appeal to the DOJ to reverse the leave order handed down by the Bureau of Immigration against her.
She was supposed to leave by Friday, May 25.
“The issuance of the DOJ order is our temporary victory. However, Sister Fox and her lawyers will not remain complacent since it seemed that it was no less than the most powerful man in the country, the president, who wants her out of the country,” Fox’s camp said in a statement Saturday.
In a two-page document, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered the BI to comment on Fox’s petition for review within a non-extendable period of 10 days.
The Melbourne native nun, in turn, was told to file her reply within five days from receipt of the BI’s comment.
Duterte, who has defied international pressure and has strongly rejected criticisms of his human rights record, easily won the race to Malacañang on a brutal law and order platform.
The hypersensitive president has accused the Australian nun of having a “shameful mouth” and of treating the Philippines like a “mattress to wipe your feet”.
Fox has spent nearly three decades helping the poor and fighting for land rights in tribal communities in the Philippines. The Immigration bureau last Wednesday ordered the forfeiture of her missionary visa for allegedly engaging in political activities in the country.
“If the Bureau of Immigration's order will be upheld, the case of Sister Pat will set a dangerous precedent on foreigners engaged in missionary or solidarity works within the Philippines, especially those who are working and immersing with the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized,” Fox’s camp said.
“This is a serious threat and blatant attack to the universally recognized rights to freedom of expression and peaceably assemble,” they added.
Last month, Italian politician Giacomo Filibeck, a vocal critic of Duterte’s deadly drug war, was barred from entering the country.
But Duterte had repeatedly denied ordering a crackdown against dissent, saying he has never sent a critic to jail “except if you’re a foreigner because that is another thing.”
The Bureau of Immigration releases from its custody rights and land reform advocate Patricia “Sister Pat” Fox who was nabbed for her reported violation of country’s law banning participation in any political assembly.
The 71-year-old lay missionary was detained in the immigrations office Monday afternoon. Her arrest came only a day after BI deported Giacomo Filibeck, an official of the Party of European Socialists.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo says there is a "reign of fear" on part of those who violate the law as a response to Australian nun Sister Patricia Fox's remark on President Rodrigo Duterte's "reign of tyranny."
"She was a violator, that’s precisely why she departed from the country but that is not to say that… We are grateful for the good deeds she performed but that will not exempt her from the punishment imposed by law," Panelo says while conceding that the nun is entitled to her opinion.
The elderly nun, who spent decades working with the marginalized, returned to Australia on Saturday, November 3, after losing a long legal battle in the Philippines to stop her deportation.
She apparently angered Duterte by joining a fact-finding mission in April to investigate alleged abuses against farmers, including killings and evictions by soldiers fighting guerrillas in Mindanao.
The Bureau of Immigration denies Australian missionary Patricia Fox's request for an extension of her temporary visitor's visa and orders her to leave the country before November 3, the day her visa expires.
"Under the circumstances, she is compelled to leave under strong protest. We will not allow the government to forcibly expel Sr. Fox out of the country given her stature as a respected missionary nun and human rights defender neither will we give them the wicked pleasure of gloating over this injustice," National Union of People's Lawyers and Sentro para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo, which have acted as counsels and have campaigned for public support for the nun, say in a statement.
They add: "Sr. Pat will continue her missionary and human rights work wherever she may be. She will continue to stand for the oppressed and speak about injustices against the Filipino people."
Justice Secretary Guevarra says Fox's "voluntary departure on November 3, if true, is without prejudice to the resolution of her deportation case." He adds that if Fox wins the deportation case, her name will be removed from the Immigration bureau's blacklist.
The Bureau of Immigration has downgraded Australian nun Patricia Fox’s Missionary Visa to a Temporary Visitor’s Visa with a 59-day validity.
Sister Patricia Fox's legal counsels say they have yet to receive the official copy of the Bureau of Immigration order denying their motion for reconsideration on the Australian nun's application for a missionary visa.
Earlier on Monday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Immigration has rejected Fox's appeal for an extension of her missionary visa.
Meanwhile, Fox is set to file on Monday next week, October 15, her reply on the comment of the Immigration on her petition for review before the Justice department on the deportation filed against her.
"Sr. Pat hopes that the DOJ will settle the substantive issues raised in our Petition for Review particularly on the right of foreigners to their exercise of freedom of expression and assembly, universally recognized by both domestic and international laws, which the BI refused to squarely address," they say.
The Bureau of Immigration denies Sister Patricia Fox's request to extend her missionary visa.
Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval tells Philstar.com in a text message that the Australian nun is ordered to file for downgrading to revert her visa status to a temporary visitor with a 59-day stay starting the date of the expiry of her missionary visa.
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