Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque clarified on Tuesday that Australian nun Patricia Fox is not yet off the hook with regards to the deportation proceedings filed against her.
In a press briefing, Roque said that the Department of Justice was only able to reverse the decision of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation on the nullification of Fox’s missionary visa, which DOJ ruled as not within the CID functions
In a 10-page order granting the Motion for Reconsideration to the Department of Justice filed by Fox’s counsel, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the April 23 and May 17 order by the BI forfeiting Fox’s visa was declared “null and void for having been issued without legal basis.”
The order stated that visa forfeiture is not in BI’s Omnibus Rules of Procedure 2015, and orders for the proper disposition of the case.
Roque, however, said that the deportation proceeding against the Australian nun is still ongoing.
Roque said that the decision of Guevarra is “without prejudice” to the decision of the CID.
“Let us wait for the decision of the CID on the issue,” Roque said. He added that the CID is tackling the issue of whether or not Fox is affiliated with any anti-administration rallies.
Roque’s position is shared by the Bureau of Immigration itself, which said that despite the DoJ order, Fox might still be deported as she is facing a separate deportation and visa cancellation which is still pending before the bureau.
“We received the resolution on Sister Fox’s Motion for Reconsideration, and we submit to the directive from the DoJ on the disposition of her case,” BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said in a statement.
She said that the visa forfeiture would have downgraded Sister Fox’s visa from a Missionary Visa to a Temporary Visitor’s Visa, and would require her to leave the country within 30 days.
But the DOJ noted that visa cancellation procedure would have the same effect as was the one contained in the BI’s Omnibus Rules.
“The DoJ saw that the proceedings initiated by the Bureau may fall under visa cancellation, and not visa forfeiture,” Sandoval said.
“Cases of visa cancellation, according to Section 5 of the BI Omnibus Rules, may also be based on allegations of deportable offenses,” Sandoval said, referring to alleged Fox’s involvement in partisan political activities.