Nun who angered Duterte leaves Philippines
Sister Fox had joined fact-finding mission to probe alleged abuses against farmers
An Australian nun who had angered President Rodrigo Duterte departed the Philippines yesterday, following a lengthy legal fight against the government’s efforts to expel her.
Sister Patricia Fox, 71, was escorted to the airport by about 200 human rights activists who praised her years of service in the Southeast Asian nation and condemned the administration for forcing her to leave.
“Duterte, expel him, Sister Pat, bring her back,” some of the rallyists chanted.
Fox, who has spent almost three decades working with Philippine labourers, farmers and urban poor, said she was ■ leaving with sadness, but urged her sympathisers to continue helping the disadvantaged.
“I hope [Duterte] listens to the voice of the little people, not just the military, not just the businessmen, but the farmers, the workers, the tribal folk,” she said in a pre-departure press conference.
Fox apparently angered the fiery president by joining a fact-finding mission in April to investigate alleged abuses against farmers, including killings and evictions by soldiers fighting guerrillas in the southern Philippines.
She was arrested briefly on charges of violating her visa’s terms. Immigration authorities earlier last week refused to extend her tourist visa and ordered the elderly nun out by yesterday.
She decided to return to Australia rather than risk being forcibly removed.
The country’s Catholic leadership, which counts about 80 per cent of Filipinos as followers, bemoaned her departure, saying “Sister Patricia Fox’s deportation is a blow to the missionary spirit of the church”.
However Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said: “The departure of Sister Patricia Fox is a timely reminder to all foreigners who stay in this country that they are not entitled to all the rights and privileges granted to the citizens of the Philippines.”