Posted
An Australian nun who irked Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte by joining political rallies against him and his Government continues to fight to stay in the country.
Sister Patricia Anne Fox filed a motion for reconsideration today following a deportation order by the Philippine Immigration Bureau last week.
It’s very tiring, very wearing, but because I know I’m right I keep going,” she said.
But, yeah, of course it’s tiring.”
Philippine justice secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sister Fox’s deportation would not be enforced while she appeals.
Sister Fox, 71, is a coordinator of a Roman Catholic order of nuns and has worked for the poor in the Philippines for about 27 years, advocating for human rights and workers’ welfare.
The Bureau of Immigration said it also wants to prohibit Sister Fox from returning to the country for violating the terms of her missionary visa.
Photo: The Sister Fox has angered the President by joining anti-government rallies. (AP: Bullit Marquez)Her lawyer Maria Sol Taulo said the move would set a dangerous precedent.
“So if this will become a trend that [Mr] Duterte’s administration will make — that he will get angry at everyone who’s involved or concerned with defending human rights — it will really become a bad precedent because we are tasked or obliged to defend human rights anywhere we are, whether you are a foreigner or not,” she said.
“That should be our duty as human persons.”
Last month, Mr Guevarra revoked the Bureau of Immigration’s cancellation of Sister Fox’s missionary visa but allowed the agency to proceed with efforts to deport her for another alleged offence.
The Bureau said Sister Fox violated her missionary visa by going beyond her community in suburban Quezon city into metropolitan Manila.
It said she also interfered in domestic politics by joining protests and news conferences that tackled “political and human rights issues against the Government”.
Mr Duterte has backed the immigration bureau’s effort to expel Sister Fox.
Sister Fox’s lawyers said they were utterly dismayed and would fight what they said was persecution.
AP
Topics: world-politics, philippines
