MANILA — The camp of Australian nun Patricia Fox on Wednesday said it will appeal the decision of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) denying the motion for reconsideration (MR) on the deportation order issued by BI against her client before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Fox’s counsel lawyer Sol Taule said they have 10 days, upon receipt of the decision, to file an appeal.
“We will file an appeal, we have 10 days,” she said in a telephone interview, adding that they would likely submit their appeal next week.
The BI denied the MR filed by the foreigner, appealing BI’s Board of Commissioners (BOC) decision last July.
The decision ordered for her deportation and inclusion in the bureau’s blacklist to prevent her from returning to the country.
The BI noted that Fox violated “the limitations and conditions of Commonwealth Act 613, Section 9 (g) missionary visa and undesirable under Article 2711, Section 69 and order her deportation to Australia, subject to her submission of all appropriate clearance and the inclusion of her name in the BI’s blacklist, thus barring her re-entry into the country.”
It also issued an order forfeiting Fox’s missionary visa and downgrading it to a tourist visa. It directed her to leave the country in 30 days.
Last May, the Australian nun’s camp filed a petition for review before the DOJ, questioning the April 23 and May 17 orders of the BI, denying her MR and supplemental motion for reconsideration, respectively.
On June 18, the DOJ granted her petition for review and declared both rulings null and void, reinstating her missionary visa but without prejudice to the result of a separate cancellation or deportation proceedings.
Last April, Fox was invited to the BI main office in Manila after the bureau’s Intelligence Division received information that she has allegedly been attending protest rallies against the government. She was released the next day. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)