After some weeks of posturing and threatening, the Duterte administration has decided to deport Roman Catholic nun Patricia Anne Fox for participating in “partisan political activities.”
Fox, an Australian national, has been in the Philippines for 27 years as a missionary nun and head of the Notre Dame de Sion congregation. She works with the urban poor, farmers, and indigenous folk. A substantial chunk of her vocation has been spent nurturing the marginalized that have slipped under the government’s radar. The Philippines has become her home.
Now 71, she will have to leave her adopted home of nearly three decades unless her lawyer Jobert Pahilga manages to file a persuasive appeal, motion for reconsideration, or other legal remedy—or the government rescinds its order.
The deportation order was issued by the Bureau of Immigration, which has recommended the cancellation of Fox’s missionary visa and given her 30 days to leave the country.
Fox is accused of participating in rallies, press conferences, and other politically-related activities, said to be a violation of the terms and conditions of her missionary visa. Pahilga’s counter is that Fox’s involvement with such activities are consistent with her mission of promoting peace, social justice, and human rights.
She first made headlines when she was taken from her house about a week ago by the BI and detained for her so-called political activities. She was released within 24 hours. At the time, Palace spokesperson Harry Roque said “siguro apologies are in order kasi madalian naman siyang pinalabas din ng [BI].”
He said while there is a law prohibiting foreigners from participating in protests and political activities, Fox was not arrested while at an actual rally, a mistake on the part of the BI.
President Rodrigo Duterte, however, flabbergasted one and all when he declared that he was the one who ordered the probe into Fox for “disorderly conduct.” He also accused her of having “a foul mouth,” saying she has no right to criticize him. “You come here and insult us, you trample with (sic) our sovereignty,” he said.
Many have defended Fox’s privilege to stay in the country, among them members of the clergy, opposition politicians, journalists, and left-leaning personalities.
One of them is former Commission on Human Rights chairperson Etta Rosales, who issued a harsh indictment. “The forfeiture of visa and order to leave for Sister Patricia Fox will go down in history as one of the Duterte administration’s cowardly acts,” she said.
Senator Nancy Binay, referring to Fox’s detention, asked, “Ang tanong eh, how can a 71-year-old nun be a “threat to society’?” Similarly, politician Teddy Casiño tweeted, “How can [Fox], an Australian who decided to dedicate 27 years of her life in a third world country like the Philippines to help farmers and other poor and oppressed sectors, be even considered an undesirable alien?”
Others have referenced Duterte’s misogyny, seeing how his administration has moved against Senator Leila de Lima, Supreme Court Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio- Morales, Vice-President Leni Robredo, and others. “The president is allergic to strong women,” Rosales quipped at a forum last month.
Those who have defended the government’s actions against Fox say that it is the government’s right to expel foreigners who criticize the government and who do not obey the country’s laws.
But has Fox actually done any wrong? She has not been caught participating in a political activity, but she has admitted that she has spent her years in the country working for human rights in behalf of the poor and marginalized. Is that sufficient to brand her as a threat to society and the country’s sovereignty? Isn’t the Chinese military presence in our islands a larger and more immediate threat?
Legal eagles will nitpick over loopholes, but the bigger question is, have Fox’s activities throughout three decades resulted in any actual harm to the various administrations she has seen come and go?
Or is the decision to deport her based solely on Duterte’s dislike of being criticized by women and ‘Westerners’ such as Callamard, Filibeck, the European Union, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, etcetera?
According to an ABS-CBN news item from yesterday, Senator Bam Aquino, who has also condemned the BI deportation order against Fox, “wants the Senate to investigate possible abuses of the state’s power to deport foreign nationals” for airing criticisms of government.
“Now more than ever we need our laws to protect the rights of people willing to stand up to power and speak out against injustices,” Aquino said.
The matter is still unfolding and the weeks to come will see how our society negotiates this situation. At the moment, we are left wondering whether all the heavy artillery brought to bear against an elderly nun is warranted or just a bullying tactic to mask insecurities and a thin skin.
Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and communication consultant. FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO