{"id":172254,"date":"2018-07-20T04:39:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T08:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=172254"},"modified":"2025-01-19T09:31:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T14:31:56","slug":"no-crackdown-vs-foreign-missionaries-bi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/07\/20\/no-crackdown-vs-foreign-missionaries-bi\/","title":{"rendered":"No crackdown vs foreign missionaries \u2014 BI"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_160539\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-160539\" style=\"width: 1623px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Patricia-Fox-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1623\" height=\"1091\" class=\"size-full wp-image-160539\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Patricia-Fox-2.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cSister Fox was found to have violated immigration laws.<\/p srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Patricia-Fox-2.jpg 1623w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Patricia-Fox-2-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Patricia-Fox-2-768x516.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Patricia-Fox-2-1024x688.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1623px) 100vw, 1623px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-160539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy vibramycin online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/vibramycin.html\">https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/vibramycin.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p> When foreigners violate our Immigration laws, the law must be applied and enforced, in the same manner that Filipinos must follow immigration laws when they are in another country,\u201d Sandoval said. (File photo by Roy Lagarde\/CBCP News)&#8221; width=&#8221;1623&#8243; height=&#8221;1091&#8243; \/><\/a> \u201cSister Fox was found to have violated immigration laws. When foreigners violate our Immigration laws, the law must be applied and enforced, in the same manner that Filipinos must follow immigration laws when they are in another country,\u201d Sandoval said. (File <a href=\"http:\/\/cbcpnews.net\/cbcpnews\/australian-nun-freed-after-arrest-for-political-activity\/\">photo<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/cbcpnews.net\/cbcpnews\/\">Roy Lagarde\/CBCP News<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday, July 20, clarified that there is no &#8220;crackdown&#8221; of foreign missionaries in the Philippines, following the deportation order issued against Australian nun Patricia Fox.<\/p>\n<p>BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval explained that the bureau was just\u00a0exercising its mandate\u00a0 when it ordered the deportation of Fox and her inclusion in the BI&#8217;s blacklist which bars her from returning to the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSister Fox was found to have violated immigration laws. When foreigners violate our immigration laws, the law must be applied and enforced, in the same manner that Filipinos must follow immigration laws when they are in another country,\u201d Sandoval said.<\/p>\n<p>In its 10-page order issued on Thursday, July 19, the BI said the nun violated the conditions of her missionary visa for allegedly taking part\u00a0in political activities which is prohibited to foreigners.<\/p>\n<p>The bureau cited photographs of Fox taken in 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018, showing that she &#8220;illegally engaged&#8221; in Philippines&#8217; political activities \u2014 including those where she reportedly demanded the release of political prisoners, and her participation in the two press conferences: &#8220;Trump and Duterte, hands off rights defenders&#8221; and &#8220;Stop Killing Farmers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There were also photos showing that she joined in the rallies for land distribution in Hacienda Luisita, a rally protesting the extension of martial law in Mindanao, and a labor groups rally in Davao City.<\/p>\n<p>It can be recalled that Fox was granted a missionary visa on July 21, 2016 which is valid until September 5, 2018, &#8220;with a limitation that she will render her missionary work in Barangay Amihan in Quezon City.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, the Immigration department, in its order, said Fox participated in political activities from north (Tarlac) to south (South Cotabato). The BI noted that her missionary visa only allowed her to engage in missionary or religious works and not in political activities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe welcome the presence of foreign missionaries in the Philippines, but, as with any alien staying in our country, they must respect and follow our laws,\u201d Sandoval said.<\/p>\n<p>Malaca\u00f1ang\u00a0echoed the BI\u2019s statement, saying \u201cThat\u2019s the law. Dura lex sed lex (the law may be harsh, but it is the law).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the 71-year-old nun, who has been doing her missionary work in the Philippines for the past 27 years, expressed dismay with the Immigration department&#8217;s order which she only learned about via text message from her lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell of course I&#8217;m disappointed but that\u2019s the order, and we\u2019ll look at what we can do about it,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy cialis soft tabs online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/cialis-soft-tabs.html\">https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/cialis-soft-tabs.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Her camp, through lawyer Jobert Pahilga, said they will appeal the decision of the BI and if it is necessary, they will raise the issue up to the Department of Justice (DOJ).<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy aurogra online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/aurogra.html\">https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/aurogra.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday, July 20, clarified that there is no &#8220;crackdown&#8221; of foreign missionaries in the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":160539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[2982,53798,53799,50220],"class_list":["post-172254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-bureau-of-immigration","tag-deportation-order","tag-foreign-missionaries","tag-patricia-fox","mauthors-joanna-belle-deala","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285764,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172254\/revisions\/285764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}