Dismayado ang isang Catholic prelate dahil isang tao na gaya ng Australian missionary nun na si Sister Patricia Fox, na naglilingkod sa mga Pilipinong mahirap, ay pinaaalis na sa bansa.

“As a bishop and a religious missionary of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), I am very disappointed with the unfair and unjust deportation of Sister Fox, who has been sacrificing her life and using her personal strength and efforts for the upliftment of the life of our fellow lumad Filipinos, the genuine and original inhabitants of our God-given land,” pahayag ni Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, sa isang panayam.

“I cannot understand why the President (Duterte) and his officials call a frail lady dedicated to a noble cause of Mission an ‘undesirable alien’,” dagdag niya.

Ayon sa tagapamahala ng Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Mission na nagpapakita lamang ito ng “paranoic attitude” ng mga opisyal ng bansa, na aniya ay guilty sa mga krimen.

“They cannot stand criticism from anyone who exposes their evil deeds,” ani Bastes.

“Sister Fox, being a Religious Missionary, is simply fulfilling her prophetic vocation to denounce evil and to help the oppressed! And she is punished for doing her duty as a consecrated woman,” dagdag niya.

MAKABABALIK SA ‘PINAS

Tiniyak ni Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra na makababalik si Fox sa Pilipinas kapag nanalo ito sa kanyang deportation case laban sa Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Ito ang siniguro ni Guevarra matapos na ibasura ng BI, Oktubre 31, ang apela ni Fox na palawigin ang kanyang 59 na araw na temporary visitor’s visa na mapapaso sa Nobyembre 3.

Ipinaliwanag niya na hindi makaaapekto ang desisyon ng BI sa nakabimbin niyang petition for review sa DoJ, na humihiling na baligtarin ang deportation order ng BI.

“The deportation case is a totally different matter,” sabi ng DoJ chief.

“Sister Fox has to leave after her visa expires, without prejudice to the DOJ decision in the deportation case on appeal,” aniya.

“If Sister Fox eventually wins, her name will be removed from the immigration blacklist and she may return to the Philippines,” paliwanag niya.

-Leslie Ann G. Aquino at Jeffrey G. Damicog