HONTIVEROS: DEPORT NUNS BUT ALLOW CHINA'S INCURSIONS AND DRUGLORDS TO ROAM FREE?
*Statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros

The Duterte government's forfeiture of the missionary order of Australian nun Sr. Patricia Fox is outrageous and unbelievable.

It is an act that promotes further the climate of impunity in the country rather than secures our sovereignty.

It is disheartening as a Filipino that the country's President chooses to be a "Deporter-in-Chief" to his perceived critics than a real Commander-in-Chief against actual threats to the country's sovereignty and national security.

How can a 71-year old Australian nun, who has been doing missionary work in the Philippines for the last 27 years, be a threat to our country?

Is the Duterte government saying that the 71-year old Australian nun is more of a threat to the country than its Chinese ally that has repeatedly disregarded our sovereignty and occupied our territories in the West Philippine Sea? We deport missionaries but allow China to continue its incursions unchallenged?

Is the Duterte government saying that Sister Patricia is more dangerous than alleged big-time druglord Peter Lim? So we deport nuns while we let known and self-confessed drug lords roam free?

Is the Duterte government saying that the country has more to fear from Sister Patricia than the police officers who murdered the Mayor of Albuera, and who the Senate unanimously concluded are guilty of extrajudicial killing?

This cannot stand.

I call on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to review and overturn its decision to forfeit the missionary visa of Sister Patricia Fox and the order for her to leave the country. I would like to believe that the Philippines is still a country governed by democracy and political tolerance, and not ruled by impunity.