Patricia Fox: No regrets in actions

MANILA, Philippines — Australian nun Patricia Fox does not regret her activities in the country and says the move of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to revoke her missionary visa was an act not just against her but against the Catholic Church and foreign missionaries working in the Philippines.

“I don’t regret it and I think what makes me not regret it is how grateful I am for the people who came out because they’re the people I’ve been working with for a long time,” Fox said.

“This is not just my fight, but what they are attacking is the whole Catholic Church, the role of the Catholic Church, the role of the foreign missionaries and the role of the human rights workers,” Fox said. She believes there should be others who will also protest this action of the BI. 

She said that part of her wants to leave but she also realizes that “there are principles here that you have to fight for.”

Although she could possibly return on a tourist visa, Fox said “it’s hard to continue the missionary work if you’re just a tourist because, number one, we’re not tourists, we’re nuns. We were assigned here to the congregation not as tourists.”

The government has increasingly turned against foreign critics. Giacomo Filibeck, an Italian deputy secretary-general of the Party of European Socialists, was denied entry at an airport on April 15 following his criticism of Duterte.

BI spokesperson Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, however, denied insinuations that they committed religious persecution when they forfeited the visa of Fox. 

Fox, the superior of the Notre Dame of Sion Philippine province, said she was surprised when the BI issued the forfeiture order of her missionary visa.

She would have wanted to have been accorded due process and be given the opportunity to explain to bureau officials about her 27 years of work in the country.  

While the 71-year-old nun understands that it is the BI’s right to grant visas, she argued that “the church is universal so wherever we may be, we should spread the Good News.”

“Of course there is a limitation, but even if you are not a citizen the major issues such as land rights and rights of the workers, these are considered as universal rights,” she said.

She would have wanted to retain her missionary visa since under a tourist visa it would be difficult for her to proceed with her missionary work.

“It’s contradictory if I would be returning here as a tourist,” she said.

Fr. Oliver Castor of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines described the move of the BI as a “clear act of religious persecution.”

“Christians are being persecuted because they are fighting for those being oppressed, helping the poor,” he said.

He said the action of the Duterte administration was reminiscent of the time of former strongman Ferdinand Marcos who reportedly ordered the deportation of Columbian missionaries.

Mangrobang said the BI had not committed religious persecution when they forfeited Fox’s missionary visa and downgraded it to the level of a tourist visa.

“The BI is tasked to implement immigration laws, rules and regulations and we are duty bound to apply these regardless of race, color or creed. It is applied uniformly and fairly, so there is no religious persecution,” Mangrobang said. 

She also pointed out that Fox was allegedly engaged in partisan political activities, which is not part of missionary work.

“The violation she committed is not religious in nature. It is the violation of immigration laws for engaging in activities that are apart from missionary work,” she added.

As to the nun’s request that she be given the opportunity to explain her missionary work, Mangrobang said that Fox could air her side and give her explanation in the counter-affidavit she would submit to the BI. 

She also clarified that the forfeiture of Fox’s missionary visa is different from the ongoing hearing on her deportation case. 

“The issue here (forfeiture of visa) is whether or not the foreigner violated the terms and conditions of the visa. What we are looking at in the deportation case is whether or not she is an undesirable alien. There are visa violations that could not be considered undesirable,” she added.

Mangrobang also advised Fox to secure a tourist visa before she leaves.

“You need to secure a visa to depart. You cannot depart without a status. This is a regular procedure.” 

A tourist visa is usually valid for 30 days but a foreigner could apply for a six-month visa extension four times or a total period of two years.  

As to the plans of Fox’s lawyers to bring their case to the Supreme Court (SC), she said “all the legal remedies are available to them, that is their right, they can do what they feel is necessary.”

When asked if they intend to give an explanation to the religious organizations, she said, “It is not a religious issue.”

Palace appeal

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. appealed to the political opposition yesterday not to muddle the government’s move to expel Fox from the Philippines.

Roque slammed critics for decrying the nun’s expulsion when they also ordered the deportation of some foreign activists during the previous administration.

“My appeal to the opposition is, please look into the mirror. You did the same thing to foreigners. Why? Because it is the law! In fact, the law that is in place now was still approved by former secretary Leila de Lima,” Roque said. 

Roque referred to the Liberal Party, which condemned the order of the BI, and criticized what they claimed as an “emerging trend on crackdown against foreign activists in the country.” 

The LP decried the harassment and casual arrests of two human rights activists.

“On Sister Fox, I’d already articulated the position of the Palace. The latest move of the CID was to cancel her missionary visa because of a violation on the terms and conditions of her stay in the country, which requires that she should not participate in political activities,” Roque said.

Roque said Fox violated the terms of her visa when she joined join a labor rally in Davao recently.

“I believe I’ve shown you proof that she did in fact participate in a political activity; she was speaking at a KMU-Gabriela rally in a strike involving a multinational corporation in Davao,” Roque said.

“That clearly proves that she has been participating in political activities. I know it’s not good visuals, but dura lex sed lex – the law might be harsh but such is the law – we have no choice but to implement,” he added.

Rep. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna party-list yesterday decried what he described as President Duterte’s double standard in applying the rule against foreigners engaging in partisan political activities.

He said while the administration is enforcing such rule on Fox, it is ignoring the politicial activities of other foreigners.

“It is tragically ironic as it is highly condemnable that Sister Pat, who is siding with farmers and the lumads in defending their right to their lands, is now being asked by the Duterte administration to leave the country that she served as a missionary for almost three decades,” he said. 

“But in the same breadth, foreigners, businessmen especially, who openly advocate or even lobby for the amendment or revision, deletion or scrapping, of the protectionist and nationalist provisions of our Constitution are being welcome with open arms by the administration,” he said.

Zarate added that the “open lobbying by members of foreign chambers of commerce to change our Constitution is in fact political activity that is very detrimental to our country and people.

“Why is the government, the immigration bureau, not doing anything to kick them out?” he asked.

“Also, while the Chinese military is acting as if it owns the West Philippine Sea, the Duterte government is doing nothing to stop its aggressive action. Yet, it is very quick to deport someone like Sister Pat who is standing against exploitation and oppression in the country. This is really tragic,” he said.

He urged the administration to “stop harassing people who are serving the Philippines and its citizens.” 

“It should instead run after those who truly undermine our national patrimony, our independence and national sovereignty,” he said. 

President Duterte has admitted that he ordered the investigation of the Australian nun for allegedly engaging in partisan political activities.

The BI has ordered her to leave the country within 30 days.  –  With Christina Mendez, Jess Diaz, AP