MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has asked the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to file a formal comment on the petition for review of the government’s deportation order against Australian missionary nun Patricia Fox.
In a message to reporters Tuesday, Guevarra said his office is awaiting the comments of the BI, as well as the transmission of the complete records of the case before ruling on Fox’s petition.
Last month, immigration officials affirmed the deportation order against Fox allegedly for engaging in partisan political activities while in the country, and subsequently dismissed her motion for reconsideration (MR).
The BI found that Fox violated the terms of her missionary visa and recommended barring her re-entry into the country after several photographs showed her engaging in political activities since 2013, such as demanding the release of political prisoners, joining rallies for land distribution in Hacienda Luisita, and a labor rally in Davao City.
She was asked to report to the immigration bureau following reports of her taking part in anti-government activities last April.
“The power to deport aliens is lodged in the President of the Republic of the Philippines. The Commissioner of Immigration exercises this power, however, as the qualified political agent of the President. As the administrative alter-ego of the President in deportation cases, the actions of the Commissioner of Immigration relative to the arrest and detention of undesirable aliens are, unless reprobated or disapproved by the President, presumptively the acts of the President,” the BI’s 10-page ruling stated. (Benjamin Pulta/PNA)
