‘Political’ Australian nun gets a reprieve

An effort by the Bureau of Immigration to deport an Australian nun for engaging in partisan political activity in the Philippines was held off by the justice department yesterday.

The deportation of Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox will not push through today after Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra overruled an April 25 order by Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente to deport the Catholic nun.

The immigrations is an agency attached with the justice department.

“The department of Justice has nullified the order issued by the Bureau of Immigrations, which forfeited the missionary visa of Sister Patricia Anne Fox and directed her to leave the country in 30 days,” Morente said.

The additional period of one month will allow the nun to seek other legal solutions to her impending deportation.

Guevarra said the forfeiture of the missionary visa forfeiture was “without legal basis,” since the immigrations cannot forfeit such travel document.

The justice secretary however said what the immigrations is allowed to do is “cancel” Sister Patricia’s visa.

Sister Patricia was temporarily detained in late April after she allegedly participated in an antigovernment demonstration in Quezon City.