MANILA — A lawmaker on Monday welcomed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to reverse the order of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) that downgraded Australian nun Patricia Fox’s missionary visa to a tourist visa, allowing her to stay in the Philippines.
In a statement, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said the DOJ, particularly Secretary Menardo Guevarra, deserves a “pat on the back” for reversing the BI decision, ordering the Australian nun to leave the country.
“The facts speak for themselves: Sister Patricia Fox deserves to stay in the Philippines and continue her missionary works with the peasants, lumads, and poor Filipinos,” Zarate said.
In a statement made public on Monday, Guevarra granted Fox’s motion for reconsideration on the BI ruling because what the BI did in this case “is beyond what the law provides, that is why it has to be struck down.”
“Our existing immigration laws outline what the BI can do to foreigners and their papers — including visas — when they commit certain acts within Philippine territory,” Guevarra said.
Zarate is part of the House Makabayan bloc, which filed a bill seeking to grant Fox a Filipino citizenship.
The seven-member progressive bloc filed House Bill No. 7806, granting Filipino citizenship to the Catholic nun as a “fitting recognition for her selfless service to the poor and oppressed Filipinos.”
“For 27 years, Sr. Pat lived with and served the farmers, indigenous peoples and other marginalized people in the communities. By living with the poor and oppressed, Sr. Pat has come to understand, experience, and embrace the culture and the struggle of the poor Filipino majority,” the group said in the bill’s explanatory note.
“It is a response to the call of many farmers, fisher folks, and indigenous people whose lives were touched and helped by Sr. Pat,” it added.
Last April 16, Fox was apprehended by BI agents for being an undesirable alien, for allegedly violating the conditions of her missionary visa after participating in partisan political activities. She was released from custody the next day.
On April 23, the bureau cancelled her missionary visa and downgraded it to temporary visitor’s visa. (PNA)
