Australian Catholic nun Sister Patricia Fox (C) is escorted by immigration officers during her release from detention at the Immigration headquarters in Manila on April 17, 2018, a day after she was arrested. Philippine authorities detained an elderly Australian Catholic nun overnight in what civil rights groups alleged on April 17 was a crackdown on foreign critics of President Rodrigo Duterte’s human rights record. / AFP FILE PHOTO
The present situation is no different from the martial law years under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Fr. Angel Cortez, co-executive director of the Association of the Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), made this statement on Saturday, hours before the departure of Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox from the country.
According to Cortez, the critics that include the Church, now and during the time of Marcos were both put into silence despite of just speaking the truth.
“Ang panahon po na ito ay walang pinagkaiba sa panahon ng martial law. Ang panahon po na ito ay walang pinagbago sa mga toang dinukot at pinahirapan, na ang simbahan ang palaging sinisingil at sinusupil,” Cortez said in a Homily during the pre-departure mass organized for Fox.
During the term of Marcos, cases of hundred individuals missing were prevalent.
Fox, meanwhile, was ordered deported for violating “the limitations and conditions in granting the missionary visa…and order her deportation to Australia, subject to her submission of all appropriate clearances.”
She served as a missionary in the country for 27 years, fighting for justice with farmers and the poor.
Cortez also said that the deportation case of Fox showed the irony of those who claimed to be Catholics but were okay with public killings, women harassment, and Fox’s deportation.
Despite the deportation order of the Bureau of Immigration against Fox, Cortez said that the public should remain “fearless” and “steadfast.”
“Dapat magsilbi ito na paalala na dapat tayo ay manindigan at hindi dapat matakot,” he said.
Fox is set to leave the country on Saturday night. /jpv