MANILA, Philippines — Sister Patricia Anne Fox said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has given her “temporary victory” when it said the Bureau of Immigration (BI)’s order for her to leave the country last May 25 would be reviewed and clarified that the 30-day period would end on June 18.
The 71-year-old Australian nun said she welcomes the prompt response of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to the petition for review that they filed before the department at around 3 p.m. last Friday, which was the deadline set by the BI for her to leave the country.
“Sister Pat and her lawyers welcome this recent development and appreciate the immediate and prompt action of the DOJ secretary on her appeal… The issuance of the DOJ order is our temporary victory,” Fox’s camp said in a statement.
Since the DOJ clarified that Fox can stay in the country until June 18, “it removes the anxiety and concern that she will be arrested anytime by the agents of the bureau similar to what they did last April 16.”
The department order also gave her “a ray of hope” that her case would be justly and fairly reviewed. They also asked that the BI’s April 23 order would be reversed and set aside for lack of factual and legal basis.
Despite getting an initial positive response from the DOJ, however, Fox’s camp asked her supporters not to be complacent since it seems that “no less than the most powerful man in the country, the President, wants her out.”
They should continue to be vigilant and continuously call on government not to deport Fox, the provincial superior of the Our Lady of Sion Sisters who has been living in the country for the last 27 years, serving farmers and indigenous people.
The nun’s camp is concerned that if the BI would succeed in kicking her out of the country, it would set a dangerous precedent for other foreigner missionaries involved in “solidarity work” or those working with the poor, oppressed and marginalized, as this could become a serious threat to rights to freedom of expression and peaceable assembly.