Sister Fox received deportation order, her lawyer says
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of the Immigration has ordered the deportation of Australian missionary Patricia Fox, who caught the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to the 10-page resolution issued by the Immigration, Fox shall remain under the bureau’s watchlist and would only be removed upon actual deportation.
Fox’s lawyer Ma. Sol Taule said the Australian nun has already received the order.
Duterte on April 19 said he is taking full responsibility for the investigation into Fox. In his later speeches, the firebrand leader lashed out at the 71-year-old nun and said she has a “shameful mouth.”
On April 25, the Immigration forfeited Fox’s missionary visa, citing her “involvement in partisan political activities.” The board cited the photo of Fox holding a placard calling for the release of all political prisoners in the country in its decision to affirm the forfeiture of her visa.
But the Department of Justice, on June 18, granted Fox’s appeal to reverse the Immigration’s revocation of her missionary visa and leave order.
Guevarra, in a statement, said existing immigration laws do not allow “what the BI did in this case.”
While the justice chief agreed with the Immigration’s contention that a visa is a privilege, he asserted that the bureau could not simply create new grounds to withdraw a visa already granted to a foreigner.
Guevarra ordered the Immigration to determine whether the charge and the evidence against Fox qualify for a visa cancellation case.
Duterte has 'plenary power to deport'
The Immigration, in its fresh resolution, said: “To allow respondent Fox to participate in political rallies or activities would open floodgates for other aliens unbridled right to criticize government by joining rallies to the detriment of public peace and order.”
“Verily, there are other ways for foreigners to criticize government as part of their freedom of expression other than joining unruly rallies and protests,” the resolution further read.
The Immigration also said that it has “taken judicial notice” that Duterte has branded Fox as an “undesirable alien by joining political rallies.”
This, the bureau said, is the president exercising his “plenary power to expel or deport an alien for being undesirable.”
The Immigration said that this is a power granted to the president as provided by the Administrative Code of 1987.
“As the administrative alter-ego of the President in deportation cases, the actions of the Commissioner of Immigration relative to the arrest and detention of undesirable aliens are, unless reprobated or disapproved by the President, presumptively the acts of the President,” the resolution read.
Fox’s lawyer said in a message to reporters that they would appeal the ruling and that they are currently studying the resolution.
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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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