BI forfeits Australian nun visa; orders her to leave PH in 30 days

FILE: Australian nun Patricia Fox on Wednesday, April 25, was ordered by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to leave the Philippines after it forfeited her missionary visa. (Photo by Roy Lagarde/CBCP News)

Australian nun Patricia Fox on Wednesday, April 25, was ordered by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to leave the Philippines after it forfeited her missionary visa.

The BI’s board of commissioners issued its one-page order on the 71-year-old missionary nun on April 23, Monday.

Fox, according to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, lost the privilege of holding a missionary visa under the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 and was ordered to exit the country after the bureau’s board of commissioners learned that she was involved in “partisan political activities.”

Fox’s alien certificate of registration is also deactivated.

“She was found to have engaged in activities that are not allowed under the terms and conditions of her visa,” Morente said in the statement.

Morente also stressed that Fox’s visa only allowed her “the privilege to engage in missionary work and not in political activities.”

The commissioner, however, did not elaborate what particular activities these were.

“We direct Fox to leave the Philippines within 30 days from receipt of this order,” the board stated.

Despite this, BI spokesperson Antonette Mangrobang clarified that Fox is still allowed to enter and leave the Philippines as a tourist.

She added that the Australian nun’s deportation case is still pending with the BI special prosecutor as she has yet to file her counter-affidavit.

“It is only after the parties have been heard, will the case be submitted to the Board of Commissioners for their deliberation on whether or not she will be deported and barred from entering the country in the future,” Mangrobang explained.

Fox, a known human rights advocate, was arrested pursuant to a mission order issued by Morente. She was then released the following day after the BI approved the recommendation of its legal division that the nun be released “for further investigation.”

[Read: Immigration officials detains 71-year-old Australian nun]

[Read: Immigration officials release Australian missionary nun Patricia Fox]

Two days after the arrest, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he was the one who ordered the bureau to conduct an investigation on Fox for her alleged “disorderly conduct.”

[Read: Duterte ordered Australian nun to be investigated for ‘disorderly conduct’]

On Friday, April 20, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. showed in his press briefing a photo of Fox allegedly speaking at a rally organized by the Kilusang Mayo Uno and Gabriela party-list in front of the Coca-Cola Davao City Distribution in Ulas last April 9.

However, Fox disputed the said photo, saying that that the event was actually press conference and not a rally.