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

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

That activism builds on a grand history, from popes defying emperors and kings in the Middle Ages, to modern examples such as clergy in Poland joining the Catholic population in rising up against the Communist system, as well as the vast Catholic mobilization in the Philippines to overthrow the corrupt regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

In recent days, examples from around the world suggest that this tradition of political engagement is alive and well.

The Philippines and the war on drugs

The Filipino House of Representatives on March 10 approved a bill which, if endorsed by the Senate, would reimpose the death penalty for drug-related crimes, among others. Reinstating the death penalty was one of President Rodrigo Duterte's major campaign promises.

On Wednesday, several key Filipino lawmakers were expelled by the House leadership after voting against the restoration of the death penalty.

According to local reports, Duterte's "war on drugs" and extra-judicial killings have generated thousand of casualties since last July, and he's promised to execute "five or six" criminals per day once the death penalty is reintroduced.

If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, death will be carried out by hanging, firing squad or lethal injection for selling, trading and transporting drugs. Possessing drugs would lead to life imprisonment.

The Catholic bishops are having none of it, calling on the faithful to oppose the bill in any way possible. For instance, Bishop Joel Baylon of the Diocese of Legazpi called on the youth to take to social media.

"Use your capacity to post on social media against extra-judicial killings, the death penalty, and be online missionaries of God," Baylon said addressing them during the 8th Diocesan Youth Way of the Cross at Kawa-Kawa Hill in Ligao City, Albay on Saturday. Continue reading

Sources

• Crux article by Inés San Martín, an Argentinean journalist who covers the Vatican in Rome for Crux.
• Image: Pinoy News Today