CHR thanks Sister Fox for her ‘dedication’ to rights causes in PH

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday expressed its appreciation to the “dedication of Sister Patricia Fox to the human rights cause in the Philippines.”

This after the 71-year-old missionary was forced to leave the country and go back to Australia since the Bureau of Immigration (BI) denied the extension of her visa to warrant her continued stay in the country.

“We recognize with gratitude the dedication of Sister Patricia Fox to the human rights cause in the Philippines, especially for our farmers, laborers, and the urban poor,” CHR Spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement.

De Guia noted that Fox, regardless of her nationality, has dedicated almost three decades of her life addressing “an array of injustices and violations against the rights of the most vulnerable and marginalized in our country.”

The CHR, meanwhile, continued to remind the government of its “human rights obligations to all persons in the country.”

“Filipino or otherwise, in line with the human rights conventions it has accepted in the interest of upholding the dignity of all,” De Guia stressed.

Fox worked for 27 years as a missionary fighting for the welfare and rights of farmers and the poor.

READ: Fox’s parting shot: Don’t be silent amid abuses

The elderly nun left the country last Saturday night after her year-long battle against her deportation case. /kga