Sister Fox to Duterte: Listen to people not only to military

Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox on Saturday asked President Rodrigo Duterte to listen to the Filipinos, especially the poor, and not only to the rich and the military.

Sister Fox, who has been in the Philippines for 27 years, was forced by state authorities to leave the country for supposedly "participating in political activities."

In her message after a solidarity Mass at St. Joseph's College in Quezon City, Sr. Fox in straight Tagalog, wished President Duterte would listen to the poor.

WATCH: Mensahe ni Sister Patricia Fox kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte bago ito umalis ng Pilipinas ngayong araw: Sana nakikinig siya sa mga maliliit na tao hindi lang sa military. | via @JonathanAndal_ pic.twitter.com/CQEq13Q5PG

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) November 3, 2018

Together with her supporters, the nun heard a Mass in thanksgiving for the "selfless service" she has rendered to the Filipino poor.

Ath the gathering at St. Joseph's College, her supporters claimed that in all the decades of her stay in the country, she spent her time working for social justice, especially with the farmers and the poor.

Emotions ran high as friends and supporters joined the Catholic nun at the Eucharistic celebration.

WATCH: Emosyonal ang ilang sumalubong kay Sister Patricia Fox bago ang thanksgiving mass. | via @JonathanAndal_ pic.twitter.com/aBZaB6mQZt

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) November 3, 2018

From St. Joseph's College, supporters accompanied her to the Baclaran Church for a short program before she will be brought by a caravan to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for her flight back home to Australia.

She is scheduled to depart at 9:15 p.m. But her departure happens under heavy protest from religious and civil society groups who are thankful for the missionaries' presence in the country.

Activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in a statement on Saturday said that the expulsion of Sr. Fox is a "great injustice."

The Bureau of Immigration has denied the nun's application for the extension of her temporary visitor's visa and ordered her to leave the country on November 3, said the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), which is representing her.

Fox was accused of joining "political activities" prohibited among foreigners. While she admitted participating in fact-finding missions and advocating for social justice causes, she maintains her activities are within the scope of her missionary work and are protected by guarantees to free speech and assembly.

Last April, she was arrested and then released pending further probe by Philippine authorities. Shortly after that, President Duterte admitted ordering her investigated for "disorderly conduct." —LBG, GMA News