Militant group to DOJ: Reverse Sister Fox expulsion order

A militant group on Friday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to grant the appeal to reverse the expulsion order issued by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) against Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox.

Sister Mary John Mananzan of the Movement Against Tyranny stressed that a denial of a review of the BI’s expulsion order on Sister Fox and the revocation of the 71-year old nun’s visa would be “a violation of her right to due process.”

“This woman, church worker, rights defender and friend to the peasants poured her heart and soul to help oppressed Filipinos for almost three decades,” Mananzan said in a statement.

READ: Sister Fox files appeal at DOJ

“It is injustice to order Sister Pat’s deportation with no clear outline of what she has done against the interests of the Philippines and the Filipino people,” the activist nun insisted.

But the leave order against Sister Fox as well as the revocation of her visa was not a deportation order.

While a separate deportation proceeding was being conducted against Sister Fox, the BI on April 23 issued an order stating that the Australian nun should leave the country after her visa was revoked for alleged participation in partisan activities.

The BI said that Sister Fox, upon receiving the order, should leave the country in 30 days.

Sister Fox’s camp received the order on April 25. This means that May 25, Friday, was her last day to comply with the bureau’s directive.

READ: Defiant Sister Fox risks being blacklisted — BI

Should the Australian missionary refuse to comply with the order, the BI said it would initiate a new deportation proceeding which could get her blacklisted. /muf