Holdout

Missionary-activist Sister Patricia Fox’s luck has run out.

Escaping immediate deportation and being released from detention last April 16 probably gave the Australian nun the wrong sense of hope that she could still stay in the country and serve as a mouthpiece of allegedly oppressed farmers and victims of human rights violation. Such political activism is against the terms of her missionary visa and, under the Bureau of Immigration (BI) rule book, grounds for deportation.

Getting due process plus a favorable Department of Justice (DoJ) ruling on her appeal to the BI’s April 23 and May 17 orders revoking her visa and denying her two motions for reconsideration also gave Fox the wrong impression that luck is on her side. On the contrary, it was premature to heave a sigh of relief and celebrate the legal victory as the DoJ’s June ruling overturning the BI’s forfeiture of her visa merely put into play the other immigration cases against the mother superior of the Our Lady of Sion congregation in the Philippines.

True enough, after the reglementary 30-day wait, the BI’s decision came out last week ordering her to leave and get blacklisted. Instead of packing up though, the 72-year-old Fox is again appealing the DoJ decision.

Is Fox pushing her luck too far by exhausting all legal remedies or is she just being defiant? Is she holding out because she wants to wait out the expiration of her visa in September?

Unexpectedly acquiring notoriety that comes with the label persona non grata probably has yet to sink in for the nun. She is also in denial that her predicament was her own doing.

In fact, Fox had been engaged in partisan political activities since 2013, but the BI had been patient enough to give her the benefit of the doubt.

It’s understandable she could not accept the consequences of her actions. From an obscure figure, Fox suddenly became the center of attention with the controversy she involved herself in. She isn’t ready to give up her newfound fame after hogging the headlines. It also feels comforting to be surrounded by supportive friends, co-activists, priests, legislators, communists and the Commission on Human Rights.

For someone who has lived in the country for 27 years, returning to her native Australia is like a mature tree being uprooted and transplanted. It would be difficult to miss Filipino hospitality. But getting stripped of her relevance could be more heartbreaking for Fox as there is little purpose for activism in the politically correct landscape of Australia.

Another compelling reason for the missionary to dig in, perhaps, may be an offer from a movie producer to do a biopic. Being in the twilight of her missionary work, a Sister Fox The Movie can cap the controversial life of a nun torn between politics and religion.

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