JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday nullified the April 25 order issued by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), forfeiting the missionary visa of Australian nun Patricia Fox and compelling her to leave the country within 30 days.
In a resolution, Guevarra granted Fox’s motion for reconsideration of the BI’s decision, saying that the latter has no legal basis to expel the nun from the country.
Gueverra stressed that, while the BI has powers in regulating the entry and stay of aliens in the country, it has no authority to forfeit a person’s visa.
“Our existing immigration laws outline what the BI can do to foreigners and their papers—including visas – when they commit certain acts within Philippine territory. What the BI did in this case is beyond what the law provides, that is why it has to be struck down,” the DOJ chief explained.
While he agrees with the BI’s position that a visa is a privilege, Gueverra said this does mean that it can be withdrawn without any legal basis.
“This Office cannot sanction BI’s resort to a visa forfeiture procedure, and [the Bureau’s] orders against [Fox] which result therefrom. To hold otherwise will legitimize [BI’s] assertion of a power that does not exist in our laws,” Guevarra explained.
While the resolution declares the missionary visa granted to as still valid and subsisting, it nevertheless treats the case against her as one for visa cancellation, which according to Gueverra, is among those allowed by law and the rules.
Thus, Gueverra directed the BI to ascertain whether the charge and the evidence against Fox make out a case for visa cancellation, for which specific grounds are stated in the law.
“The BI treated this as a case for visa forfeiture instead of one for visa cancellation. As a result, the Bureau has yet to decide whether the supposed actions of Fox do indeed justify the cancellation of her visa. It would therefore be premature for us at the DOJ to decide that matter now,” Guevarra said.
For this reason, the DOJ chief said the case would have to be returned to the BI for its proper disposition.
The DOJ secretary also directed the BI to hear the visa cancellation case along with the deportation case against Fox, which is already pending with the bureau.
“Until a final resolution of the visa cancellation and/or deportation proceedings is reached, or until the expiration of her missionary visa, whichever comes first, Sister Fox may continue to perform her duties as a missionary in the Philippines,” he added.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente earlier said their board of commissioners decided to revoke the 71-year-old nun’s visa for violating the terms and conditions of her visa by joining protest rallies.