About Sister Fox

Sister Patricia Fox, that Australian nun who was recently deported, attacked President Rodrigo Duterte’s “reign of tyranny” after she returned home last Sunday. To her credit, Fox, who spent almost three decades working with Philippine laborers, farmers, and urban poor, was accused of illegally engaging in political activism as Duterte’s administration cracked down on foreign critics.

But what got her in trouble was when she joined a fact-finding mission last April to investigate alleged abuses against farmers including mysterious killings in Mindanao.

After she arrived in Melbourne she told the Australian media there was a “reign of tyranny” in the Philippines, saying: “At present, in the Philippines, the human rights abuses are just increasing and it is a reign of tyranny at present. There has been a culture of impunity for a long time and it is getting worse.”

Asked by the media for comments, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo denied Fox’s claim saying: “There is only a reign of strict enforcement of laws. The reign of terror is in the minds of those who violate the laws because they are terrified that the law is running after them.” Fox was arrested briefly on charges of violating her visa’s terms against activism in the Philippines and the slow wheels of the country’s bureaucracy began moving to strip her of her papers. This is the problem with people who work with farmers especially in areas close to the control of the New People’s Army, they tend to follow their own line of thoughts.

So what really happened to Fox? Immigration authorities downgraded her missionary visa to tourist visa, then last week, they refused to extend her visa and ordered her out by Saturday. Fox decided to return to Australia rather than risk being forcibly removed. She left the Philippines last Saturday night.

I have already said my piece about Fox in my previous columns, but don’t take it from me, read the article of Malcolm Conlan, a British citizen who wrote in his Facebook that Fox did not realize that the political opposition to Duterte took advantage of her and she thought they could help her.

Conlan said it is sad because Fox was used by the opposition in their political games to oust the democratically elected president of the Philippines. Now this is a foreigner speaking out against Fox. I’m sure that aside from Fox, there are a lot of foreigners working quietly in many of our provinces helping out the poor or indigenous people. But they do not join political rallies or are influenced by the poor who could have already been influenced by the NPAs who are totally against our democratically-elected president. So let's leave her to the Australians.

Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo issued a statement that Fox was more Filipino than many of us. Is she telling us that only foreigners came out to help the Filipino poor? I think she is mistaken! She only adds to the reality that Conlan mentioned that Fox was used by the political opposition to destroy the credibility of Duterte. Truth to tell, the vice president needs not speak anything about the issue of Fox, but instead she only gives us lessons that indeed the political opposition has used this Australian nun to promote their political goals. But instead this has backfired on the opposition.

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I read a report that the Philippine National Police got 23 vehicles from the Indian manufacturer Mahindra. Mind you, until now we have not gotten any explanation from former Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas as to why he bought the Mahindra jeeps at a price more expensive than the Toyota Fortuner, which at that time was pegged at P1,600,000, while the Mahindra price was far more expensive than the Toyota.

Now Roxas is running for a seat in the Senate, but he has not given the nation any explanation why these police vehicles cost so much, and worse, the policemen driving those Mahindra patrol vehicles are complaining that these vehicles are unreliable and easily break down. So why did the Province of Cebu purchase these questionable vehicles?

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