Sister Fox insists she did not violate conditions of her stay in PH

Australian Missionary Patricia Fox on Tuesday maintained that she has not violated the conditions of her stay in the Philippines.

“The allegation that she violated the terms and conditions [of her visa] is misplaced and unfounded,” Fox said in her response to the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) comment.

“She was merely accused of participating in a ‘political activity’ which ‘political activity’ did not in any way endanger public order and safety or disturbed the peace of the community or the country and which activity is protected by the Constitutional guarantee on freedom of expression and assembly,” Fox said through her lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL).

Fox took her case to the Department of Justice (DOJ) after the BI downgraded her missionary visa and ordered her to leave the country.

Fox, a member of the Sisters of our Lady of Sion, is one of the missionaries who arrived in the country in 1990 to work as a missionary. Their work was endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Part of her work includes immersing with farmers and indigenous peoples and providing them with social services, and teaching about peace, social justice, and human rights.

However, Intelligence Officer Melody Penelope Gonzales from BI Davao Intelligence Field Unit pointed out that based on an online dictionary and Wikipedia, the term “missionary” is a “teacher of religion or someone who spreads the faith in foreign lands while “apostolate work” is “an organization directed to serving and evangelizing the world.”

Her report said the definition does not include giving support or involvement in assemblies and fact-finding missions.

Gonzales stressed that foreigners are prohibited from engaging in political activities.

She cited Fox’s participation in the fact-finding mission on land distribution in Hacienda Luisita;  solidarity fasting for the release of political prisoners; condemnation of the killing of eight Lumads in South Cotabato, and participating in a press conference to call for an end to the killing farmers, among others.

Gonzales insisted that the missionary visa given to Fox was only for missionary work limited to Quezon City.

The BI thus downgraded her visa and Fox filed a motion for reconsideration but this was also denied.

In its comment, the BI pointed out that Fox’s visa is given as a privilege and can be forfeited at any time.

Meanwhile, Fox’s lawyers said that while it is true that visa is a privilege, “once it is granted by the State, it cannot be revoked except on valid and lawful ground and upon observance of due process of law, both substantive and procedural.”

“Be that as it may, the petitioner submits the view that while a visa given to a foreigner is a privilege that is subject to the discretion of the granting authority—an exercise of the plenary power granted to the State as regards to exclusion of foreigners—this does not come without limitations,” the lawyers said.

“These limitations apply not only to its power to deport foreigners but to all the other powers that the BI may exercise such as visa forfeiture or visa cancellation,” they added.

For her part, Fox said she is hoping for consideration. “All I can say im hopeful this will be given due consideration in the case. Still I’m hopeful,” Fox told reporters.

Earlier, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the DOJ “reserves the right to call such clarificatory hearings, as may be necessary, to arrive at a just resolution of this appeal.”  /vvp

READ: Sister Fox files appeal at DOJ