She is now seeking clarification about the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) signed in June.

In a press release about the denial of the extension, the BI stated that Fox had spent 27 years in the country as a missionary.

The release stated that, following the MOA, foreign missionaries ordinarily stay in the country for only ten years.

Fox's lawyers, however, said the agreement did not preclude the extension or renewal of a missionary visa for another ten years.

The bishops' conference is supposed to endorse foreign missionaries, religious and lay people for their visa applications.

At a forum in Quezon City on 19 September, Fox said she thought it is an issue that the church has to look into.

Church leaders need to clarify the issue because it will affect foreign missionaries, she said.

Immigration officials arrested Fox on 16 April for supposedly "joining rallies."

The next day, she was released for further investigation after it was discovered she had a valid missionary visa.

When rejecting her application for an extension, the BI cited the deportation order issued against her previously.

The BI said Fox had violated the conditions of her stay and is considered undesirable. That is why a deportation order had been issued against her.

"Our legal team believe that approving the extension of her missionary visa will be inconsistent with the findings cited in her deportation order," said BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval.

Fox testified against the Duterte government before an international tribunal on 18 September, narrating the political persecution she believes she experienced.

Fox said she would appeal.

Source

• ucanews.com
• immigration.gov.ph
• philstar.com
• Image: omct.org

Her lawyers called the move "persecution" and said they would appeal. Read more

"What the (immigration service) did, in this case, is beyond what the law provides, that is why it has to be struck down," said a statement from Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who oversees immigration matters.

It added that Sister Fox "may continue to perform her duties as a missionary" until her visa expires in September or "until a final resolution" in her deportation proceedings is reached.

A spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte said the 71-year-old nun is "not yet off the hook" and still has to face the deportation case.

Harry Roque said the Justice Department upheld the validity of Fox's visa only "without prejudice to the deportation proceedings."

"The issue in the deportation proceedings is, was she involved in political activities?" said Roque.

Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon commented: "What Duterte wants, Duterte gets by hook or by crook."

Sister Elenita Belardo, national coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, said the ruling "gives hope to the poor who [Fox] vows to serve with her life."

Fox, who has been living in the Philippines since 1990, attracted Duterte's wrath after joining a fact-finding mission in April to investigate alleged abuses against farmers - including killings and evictions by soldiers fighting guerrillas in the southern Philippines.

Before Monday's decision was released, Fox said she would fight moves to deport her.

"It's more of looking at getting due process for myself (and) this happening to others," she told ABS-CBN television.

"I'm thinking if there's no due process when I am high profile, how much more in the provinces where people are being arrested?"

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• channelnewsasia.com
• ucanews.com
• Image: philstar.com

It has agreed to extend her stay in the Philippines and review her appeal against an order from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to forfeit her visa.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has announced Fox now has until June 18 to leave the country if the Bureau of Immigration's order is to be implemented.

The 71-year-old nun welcomed the prompt response of Guevarra to the petition for review that she filed before the DoJ on Friday afternoon.

That was the deadline set by the BI after it accused her of participating in "partisan political activities" in the country.

The DoJ's order gave Fox "a ray of hope" that her case would be fairly reviewed and she prays that the BI's April 23 order will be reversed and set aside "for utter lack of factual and legal basis," Fox's legal counsel Robert Pahilga said.

"This also removes the anxiety and concern that she will be arrested anytime by the agents of the bureau similar to what they did last April 16."

But Fox and her lawyers are not complacent.

Pahilga said it seems that no less than the most powerful man in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte, wants her out of the country.

"If I do not contest the government's order, it could become a bad precedent," Fox told ucanews.com last week.

The Philippines' immigration bureau revoked Fox's missionary visa on April 23 for allegedly participating in "partisan political activities."

It also "deactivated" her alien certificate of registration.

On May 23, the bureau rejected her appeal for it to reinstate her missionary visa.

It had also dismissed Fox's claims of lack of due process.

Source

• ucanews.com
• manilatimes.net
• Image: gmanetwork.com

She has been labelled an "undesirable" foreigner for what the country's Bureau of Immigration says is "her involvement in partisan political activities."

The 71-year-old Australian nun has 30 days to leave the Philippines.

An immigration spokeswoman said she can still return as a tourist, but not as a missionary.

In a one-page order, immigration bureau head Jaime Morente asked Fox to leave the Philippines after "she was found to have engaged in activities that are not allowed under the terms and conditions of her visa."

Fox said in a statement that she was surprised by the order and that she hoped authorities would change their minds before the 30 days were up.

She told Australia's ABC TV: "For me, it is part of my mission as a Catholic sister to stand beside those whose human rights have been violated, who are asking for help."

"We will file a motion for reconsideration on this order," said Jobert Pahilga, Fox's lawyer. "She has not participated in any partisan activity. She is a nun."

The left-wing activist group Bayan (Nation) condemned the expulsion order of a nun who "has done so much for Philippine farmers in her nearly three decades stay here."

"The Duterte regime is paranoid and afraid of an elderly nun working for human rights and social justice for the poor," Bayan leader Renato Reyes said in a statement.

"The deportation order of Sister Pat is indeed despicable and utterly shameful," said Mr Reyes.

Last week in a speech to soldiers, Philippines President Duterte said he ordered the immigration bureau to look into Sister Patricia's political activities in the country.

Source

• npr.org
• theaustralian.com.au
• abc.net
• Image: Twitter

His words were directed at an Australian nun, Sister Patricia Fox, who was detained by immigration authorities last week.

"You nun, why don't you criticise your own government, the way (they) handled the refugees hungry and dying and turned them back to the open sea?

"Why don't you rant there?" Duterte said during a change-of-command ceremony of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

He has personally ordered an investigation into Fox's activities for "disorderly conduct" and "violation of sovereignty."

"I ordered her to be investigated, not deported at once, not arrested, but invite her to an investigation for a disorderly conduct," Duterte said.

"It was upon my orders, implemented by the BI (Bureau of Immigration), and I take full responsibility, legal or otherwise, for this incident."

The president said only Filipinos are entitled to criticize his administration.

He said he would personally order the arrest of Fox if she is caught attacking the government in demonstrations and protest rallies.

The 71-year-old superior of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion in the Philippines was arrested by six immigration officials on Monday last week and held for 24 hours.

She was accused of conducting illegal political activities in breach of her visa and of being an "undesirable alien".

Fox has denied the allegations and said pictures produced as evidence were actually taken of her during an international fact-finding mission into alleged abuses and displacement of indigenous people in Mindanao under the current military operation there.

Source

• ucanews.com
• theaustralian.com.au
• philstar.com
• Image: The Star/Miguel De Guzman