Malacañang is leaving it to the courts to decide if they would prevent the Bureau of Immigration from deporting Australian nun Patricia Fox.
“Unless they appeal or challenge that order of the [BI], unless they get a TRO [temporary restraining order] from the CA [Court of Appeals] that it is grave abuse of discretion then it is final and executory,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Fox was ordered to leave the country by May 25 for allegedly violating the conditions of her stay in the country by engaging in political activities and joining anti-government demonstrations.
The immigration bureau, meanwhile, said the missionary nun can come back to the country only as a tourist, but only after the resolution on the deportation charges filed against her.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has joined the clamor to allow Fox to stay, and even tapped lawyers from President Rodrigo Duterte’s alma mater, San Beda College, to appeal the BI order revoking Fox’s missionary visa.
But the President, who led the distribution of lands in Mulanay, Quezon on Monday, has already made known his thoughts on the matter.
The President said that he would not allow any foreigner to criticize him and his policies on Philippine soil.
He even said that the government only enforced the BI order which was approved by then-Justice secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima in 2015 that prohibits foreigners from participating in rallies.
