Makabayan solons want to grant Filipino citizenship to missionary nun Patricia Fox

A bill which aims to grant Filipino citizenship to 71-year-old missionary nun Patricia Fox was filed by progressive lawmakers of the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc on Wednesday, May 30. (Photo: BAYAN MUNA Partylist/Facebook)

A bill which aims to grant Filipino citizenship to the 71-year-old missionary nun Patricia Fox was filed by progressive lawmakers of the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc on Wednesday, May 30.

The House Bill (HB) No. 7806 was filed by Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate, Anakpawis Representative Ariel Casilao, Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago, ACT-Teachers Representatives Antonio Tinio and France Castro, and Gabriela Women’s Party Representatives Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas.

In the bill’s explanatory note, the lawmakers said Fox left her good life in Australia as a teacher and a lawyer in 1990 and chose the Philippines as her missionary area to live with the poor, particularly the peasants and indigenous peoples (IPs).

“For 27 years, Sister Pat lived with and served the farmers, indigenous peoples and other marginalized people in the communities. By living with the poor and oppressed, Sr. Pat has come to understand, experience, and embrace the culture and the struggle of the poor Filipino majority,” it read.

“Not only that she speaks their language, Sister Pat was accepted by the Filipino communities and was treated as one of their own because she lives and struggles with them,” it added.

Fox was arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in April and was immediately released nearly a day after she was apprehended. On April 25, the BI forfeited her missionary visa and ordered her to leave the Philippines in 30 days due to her alleged involvement in partisan political activities. Her alien certificate was also deactivated.

Fox then appealed the bureau’s order but the latter, on May 17, denied with finality her motion for reconsideration which sought for the reversal of the BI’s previous order.

It also dismissed Fox’s claims that the bureau forfeited her visa “without due process” and the allegations that she engaged in such political activities were not supported by solid evidence.

The legislators said that instead of prosecuting and deporting the Australian nun through “false charges,” the Philippine government should instead “recognize and acknowledge” her sacrifices just to serve the Filipino people for almost three decades.

“Granting Filipino Citizenship to Sister Patricia Ann Fox would be much more than a fitting recognition for her selfless service to the poor and oppressed Filipinos.  It is a response to the call of many farmers, fisher folks, and indigenous people whose lives were touched and helped by Sister Pat,” it stressed.

Fox was set to exit the Philippines on May 25 as ordered by the BI, but Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra extended her stay in the country until June 18 after Fox asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to overturn the BI’s decision.

The missionary nun then welcomed the immediate response of the DOJ to her appeal, saying that the issuance of Guevarra’s order was her “temporary victory.” Despite receiving a positive response from the Justice department, Fox’s camp said that they should not remain complacent because it seemed that “it was no less than the most powerful man in the country, the President, who wants her out of the country.”