Immigration bureau ‘prejudged’ case, Patricia Fox says as she appeals deportation order

Australian missionary nun Patricia Fox has appealed the deportation order against her, accusing the Bureau of Immigration (BI) of "prejudging" her case as she maintained breaking no rule by joining allegedly prohibited "political activities."

In her motion for reconsideration filed Monday, Fox through her lawyers contested the BI's consideration of President Rodrigo Duterte's statement, which tagged the 71-year-old missionary as an undesirable alien, as an exercise of his power to deport or expel foreigners.

Duterte has admitted he had ordered Fox investigated for "disorderly conduct." The bureau took judicial notice of the President's admission in its order, and said the Immigration commissioner's actions relative to the arrest and detention of undesirable foreigners are -- unless disapproved -- "presumptively the acts of the President."

In its deportation order released last week, the BI decided the 71-year-old nun was an undesirable alien and that she has violated the limitations and conditions of her missionary visa.

"In the Resolution, the Honorable Office has essentially stated that since the President  has already spoken, the officials of the Honorable Office, under the doctrine of qualified political agency or alter ego principle, have to abide by the statement of the President," Fox's appeal said.

"With due respect, that is wrong. To sanction that argument would be to state that decisions should be based on the public pronouncement of the President  irrespective of the merits of the case and the arguments of the parties," it added.

Despite the bureau's granting Fox the opportunity to present her side of the case, her lawyers viewed this as "a formal compliance with the rule but the Honorable Office has already made a predetermination of the outcome of the case based on the public pronouncement of the President."

The appeal also reiterated the nun's previous arguments, including the supposedly "speculative" nature of the basis of the deportation order — an intelligence report — and the legality of her admitted acts of joining activities such as rallies.

If left unreversed, the deportation order would not only "curtail" the religious worker's acts, but also grant the BI "the right to define what a religious missionary...can do or cannot do," in violation of the constitutional guarantee to the free exercise of religious profession and worship, the appeal said.

"The call to stop the killings, to free political prisoners, and the like are universal calls not limited by territorial jurisdiction or the place where one is domiciled," the motion said.

"In fact, for the past twenty-seven (27) years, the Respondent has not been cited for violation of any law, rule or regulation, for or by giving solidarity messages or holding banners or placards bearing those calls." — RSJ, GMA News