Sister Patricia Fox says she’ll return

After spending decades helping the Philippines’ poorest people, Australian missionary Patricia Fox is fighting deportation after drawing President Rodrigo Duterte’s ire.

The 71-year-old Catholic nun is due to be kicked out of the country by May 25 after the President personally accused her of political activism.

Hopeful

“I’m still hoping that somehow something will happen [to stop the expulsion],” she told Agence France-Presse in Manila.

Fox said she would still like to return and resume her work.

Fox was hauled off on April 16 to the Bureau of Immigration where she was informed of the allegations against her.

The nun said she apparently angered the President by joining a fact-finding mission in April to investigate alleged abuses against farmers in Mindanao.

Human rights group Karapatan on Tuesday scored Mr. Duterte for deflecting blame on his predecessors.

“Duterte reacts as if he is not immediately accountable,” the group said, reacting to an April 29 speech made by the President.

De Lima order

In that speech, Mr. Duterte cited order No. SBM-2015-025, issued during the time of his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III.

It was signed by then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. —Reports from AFP and Melvin Gascon