DOJ allows Sister Fox to stay in the country for now

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:07 p.m.) — The Department of Justice on Monday granted the appeal of Australian nun Sister Patricia Fox to reverse the Bureau of Immigration's revocation of her missionary visa and its order for her to leave the country.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the forfeiture of Fox’s visa by the Immigration has no legal basis.

“Our existing immigration laws outline what the BI can do to foreigners and their papers—including visas—when they commit certain acts within Philippine territory. What the BI did in this case is beyond what the law provides, that is why it has to be struck down,” Guevarra said.

While he agreed with the Immigration’s contention that a visa is a privilege, the justice chief maintained that the agency cannot simply create new grounds to withdraw a visa already granted to a foreigner.

“This office cannot sanction BI’s resort to a visa forfeiture procedure and [the bureau’s] orders against [Fox] which result therefrom. To hold otherwise will legitimize [BI’s] assertion of a power that does not exist in our laws,” Guevarra said.

The Immigration forfeited Fox's missionary visa over her supposed political activities in the Philippines. She has denied that she engages in partisan politics and has said solidarity with marginalized sectors is part of her job as a missionary.

Visa cancellation

While it cannot forfeit Fox’s visa, the Immigration can cancel it.

Guevarra ordered the Immigration, an attached agency of the DOJ, to find out whether the charge and the evidence against Fox make out a case for visa cancellation, a procedure allowed by the law.

“The BI treated this as a case for visa forfeiture instead of one for visa cancellation. As a result, the bureau has yet to decide whether the supposed actions of Fox do indeed justify the cancellation of her visa,” Guevarra said.

He added: “It would therefore be premature for us at the DOJ to decide that matter now. For that reason, we are returning this case to the BI for its proper disposition.”

The Immigration was directed to hear the visa cancellation case along with the deportation case against the Australian nun, which is already pending with the bureau.

Fox may continue to perform her duties as a missionary in the country until a final resolution on the visa cancellation and/or deportation proceedings is reached.

The 71-year-old nun has been on the receiving end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks. He has admitted that he personally ordered the BI to investigate the Melbourne native and has accused her of having a “shameful mouth.”

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