DoJ voids BI orders on Australian nun
THE DEPARTMENT of Justice (DoJ) has nullified the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) orders against Australian missionary Patricia Fox, reinstating her missionary visa and allowing her to stay in the country.
BusinessWorld reported on May 23 that Ms. Fox petitioned the DoJ to reverse the BI’s directive dated April 23 that forfeited her visa and ordered her to leave the country by Monday.
According to Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, the BI’s forfeiture of Ms. Fox’s visa for allegedly participating in illegal political activities was “without legal basis.”
In a statement released on Monday, Mr. Guevarra said, “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 was beyond what the law provides, that is why it has to be struck down.”
“[W]hile Philippine immigration laws give the BI broad powers in regulating the entry and stay of aliens in the country, visa forfeiture is not among those powers,” Mr. Guevarra said in the statement.
He agreed with the BI’s argument that visas are a privilege but noted that, “just because it is a privilege does not mean that it can be withdrawn without legal basis.”
“The BI cannot simply create new procedures or grounds to withdraw a visa already granted to a foreigner,” Mr. Guevarra said.
He added that “there are specific grounds for visa cancellation, such as fraud or misrepresentation. The BI adopted a procedure styled as forfeiture that did not address any of these grounds at all.”
The DoJ statement, however, also pointed out: “While the Resolution declares the missionary visa granted to Fox as still valid and subsisting, it nevertheless treats the case so far commenced against her as one for visa cancellation, a procedure which — according to the Resolution — is among those allowed by laws and the rules.”
“The BI treated this as a case for a 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. It would therefore be premature for us at the DoJ to decide that matter now,” Mr. Guevarra said.
“For that reason, we are returning this case to the BI for its proper disposition,” he added.
The statement clarified that “until a final resolution of the visa cancellation and/or deportation proceedings is reached, or until the expiration of her missionary visa, whichever come first, Sister Fox may continue to perform her duties as a missionary in the Philippines.”
Sought for comment, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque said, “We respect that resolution by the DoJ secretary.”
President Rodrigo R. Duterte admitted on April 18 he personally ordered the investigation on Ms. Fox and also accused her of “bad-mouthing” the administration.