Sister Patricia Fox to appeal deportation

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Australian missionary Patricia Fox is set to appeal the deportation order that the Bureau of Immigration issued against her last Thursday.

Sister Fox’s legal counsel Maria Sol Taule said they would file the motion for reconsideration (MR) before the BI on Monday, in time for President Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address. 

Taule said they were dismayed by the BI order against the elderly nun as she said it was based on “erroneous grounds.”

The BI found that Fox violated provisions of her missionary visa and therefore has been deemed an undesirable alien and included in the bureau’s blacklist. 

The BI Board of Commissioners cited photographs supposedly showing Fox, head of the provincial superior of Our Lady of Sion Sisters, engaged in several partisan political activities since 2013.

They also took into consideration Duterte’s statements that branded Fox as an undesirable alien and noted the power to deport is lodged with the President. 

Taule said that this shows the BI not only acted as an alter-ego of the President, but the order showed the “hurt egos” of Duterte and his administration.

Duterte said he himself ordered the probe on Fox, whom he described as having a “foul mouth.” 

A teary-eyed Fox said that she faces a much harder obstacle in the deportation case, as she knows she could be forced to leave the country with unfinished business. 

Still, she said that she is still “trying to come to terms” with the deportation order but she will face whatever comes next as she appeals the BI order. 

Fox said that she does not know why she was targeted in particular as she has kept more quiet in this administration compared to previous ones. 

“I don’t know how I am a threat. I’ve never been outspoken or prominent. Hindi ko alam kung bakit naging threat to national security or sovereignty,” she told reporters. 

She noted that the deportation order against her could be “very restricting for foreign missionaries” and their work in the country. 

The Australian nun, who has been in the country 27 years, said the President should focus on listening to the cries of the marginalized people. 

Fox faces more issues as her missionary visa is set to expire in September. 

She was invited to the BI main office in Manila on April 16 and was only allowed to leave the following day after surrendering her passport.

The BI issued an order forfeiting Fox’s missionary visa and downgrading it to a tourist visa and directing her to leave the country in 30 days.

The BI order was overturned by the DOJ as it found that it was issued without legal basis and reinstated her missionary visa without prejudice to the result of a separate cancellation or deportation proceedings following an appeal from Fox’s camp. 

BI order final

The BI maintained that the deportation of Fox is final and executory in 30 days, unless she files an MR. 

BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Mengote-Sandoval yesterday said that according to the BI omnibus rules, the deportation order issued on Thursday is final and executory within 30 days unless a motion for reconsideration is filed.

The MR would have to be filed at the bureau. 

During the 30-day period, the BI would coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and verify if the nun has other pending cases in the country. By that time, she should also already have her plane ticket. 

In the 10-page resolution, the BI mentioned that even President Duterte branded her as an undesirable alien for joining political rallies against the government. 

But Sandoval admitted that while Duterte’s earlier pronouncement on Fox was used in crafting the decision, wherein they dedicated three paragraphs of their decision to the President, the main consideration of the BI commissioners was still the evidence they were able to gather against her.   – With Evelyn Macairan, Rhodina Villanueva, Jess Diaz, Ding Cervantes

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