Sister Patricia Fox continues her fight not to be deported from the Philippines.
Sr Pat admitted that waiting for the decision of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) had been quite stressful for her.
"It's very unsettling because you know how you sort of [really] hoping for the best, a part of you is saying what’s gonna happen so it is quite unsettling,” Sr Pat said to SBS Filipino.
The Australian nun had half-expected BI’s denial of her motion for reconsideration though they were hoping it to be different.
After the BI’s denial, Sr Pat and her legal counsel filed a petition for review at the Department of Justice (DOJ) last Friday, May 25th.
Few hours after receiving Sr Pat's petition, DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra had released an order that extended Sr. Pat's stay in the Philippines until June 18th.
Sr Pat said DOJ had given BI 10 days to answer their petition and they would be getting 5 days to respond to BI. DOJ would then rule on the decision.
“If it all goes to law, it’s how it should go basically,” she told SBS Filipino on her stand regarding the order released by DOJ.
Sr Pat and her legal counsel had found it necessary to exhaust all appropriate legal actions to challenge the cancellation of her missionary visa.
The Australian nun was adamant on her fight to stay in the Philippines. She revealed she was because she had stayed in the country for quite a long time and the grounds to which she was being deported could set a precedent among the [foreign] missionaries and those in solidarity with the poor.
“The way it was done that I was just to be deported with no say and then the grounds that they’ve come out with: [Number 1] they challenged the role of what a missionary should be and where they should be, [number 2] they're challenging the role of any solidarity person or anyone who comes here to be in solidarity with those who are struggling - could be deported [you know] without any due process, so it’s partly for myself and it’s partly also because it would set a very dangerous precedent."