Australian nun Patricia Anne Fox on Monday formally asked the Department of Justice to overturn the final decision issued by the Bureau of Immigration ordering her deportation for violating the terms and conditions of the missionary visa that the agency issued to her and included her name in the blacklist.
In a 39-page petition for review, Fox through National Union of People’s Lawyers secretary-general Edre Olalia argued that the 72-year-old missionary did not commit illegal acts that would justify her deportation from the country.
“In a supposedly civilized country that respects and promotes human rights and the well-being of its people, no amount of ratiocination could justify such an order. For there is nothing illegal and political in petitioner’s act of espousing social justice, peace and human rights,” petitioner said.
Fox warned that if the BI’s order will not be reversed, this would curtail her exercise of her religious belief.
“By her acts, the petitioner simply showed that she is living her missionary life consistent with the charisms of her living congregation and the social teaching of the Catholic Church and any other church to help the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized,” the petitioner said. Rey E. Requejo