“Most deplorable.”
Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said this on Wednesday when sought for comment on the order of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for Australian nun Patricia Fox to leave the Philippines within 30 days for violating the conditions of her stay here.
READ: BI orders Australian nun Patricia Fox: Leave PH in 30 days
“This deportation of a 71-year old, ailing nun is most deplorable,” Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, said in a text message.
“The act is not a sign of strength it is in fact a sign of weakness,” he added.
Pangilinan said the alleged harassments of human rights advocates and faith-based organizations and individuals “may succeed in the short run but it will eventually fail.”
“Gestapo like tactics will only strengthen the people’s resolve to resist. Hitler’s 1000 years of the Third Reich ended just after a few years,” Pangilinan noted.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier admitted that he himself ordered the BI to have Fox investigated supposedly for her “disorderly conduct.”
READ: Duterte says he ordered Australian nun’s probe for ‘disorderly conduct’
“It was not the military who arrested the Catholic nun from Australia,” Dutere said in a speech last week, “It was upon my orders implemented by the Bureau of Immigration. And I take full responsibility, legal or otherwise, for this incident.” /kga