Farewell for now,

Sister Pat
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:12 AM November 03, 2018

Filipinos of a certain age still remember the scene at the airport when
a number of our countryfolk decided to bid the departing Beatles a
most fervid “farewell.”

Claiming to be incensed at the way the Fab Four had “offended” the
sensibilities of the First Family, particularly Imelda Marcos and her
children, when they allegedly snubbed an invitation to join the
Marcoses and their friends at a get-together in Malacañang,
“concerned citizens” lined up all along the exit route of the world-
famous band and inflicted physical punishment on them. The Beatles
were kicked, pummeled, pushed, abused and cursed, chased to their
plane seats and given indelible memories of Filipino hospitality.
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Perhaps this won’t happen when Sister Patricia Fox leaves the country
as scheduled either today or tomorrow. But given the treatment she’s
received since President Duterte ordered the Australian missionary to
be investigated (and briefly detained) in April, she has been treated
with unrelenting abuse from the government, albeit couched in
civilized and legalistic language. She may look fine and bear no traces
from the outside of bruising or broken bones. But the scars surely
remain imprinted in her mind and heart.

This is especially true because, when “Sister Foxy,” as friends call her,
decided to make the Philippines her home 27 years ago, she did so
with the dream and vision to work and live among the poorest, the
humblest, the most powerless of Filipinos. It is a decision she did not
make casually or lightheartedly. It required her to live a life of penury
and hardship, and at times put her in the crosshairs of the powerful,
among them no less than the President.

Indeed, it was Mr. Duterte himself who summed up most succinctly

Sister Pat’s offense. She deserved to be deported, he said, because of
“disorderly conduct” and having a “foul mouth” (provoking thoughts
about the pot calling the kettle black).

“You come here and insult us, you trample with our sovereignty. That
will never happen,” he said in April. “I assure you, if you begin to
malign, defame (the) government in any of those rallies there, I will
order your arrest.”

To be sure, plenty of others have rushed to Sister Pat’s side, the latest
being Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon who said it was “wrong” for
the government to identify the 72-year-old nun as an undesirable
alien. “I am very disappointed with the unfair and unjust deportation
of Sister Fox, who has been sacrificing her life and using her personal
strength and efforts for the upliftment of the life of fellow ‘lumad’
Filipinos, the genuine and original inhabitants of our God-given land,”
said Bastes.

Sister Pat’s “crime” it seems, is not so much speaking out in rallies

where she denounced the killing of innocents and the harassment of
tribal communities. Rather, it is daring to question the prerogatives of
government when it goes against the helpless and the poor,
particularly in violating the rights of lumad communities who are
merely defending their ancestral domain.
That Sister Pat happened to be here on a “missionary visa” during her
nearly 30 years of service is a technicality that the government’s
lawyers exploited to the full. Her “alien” status rendered her
vulnerable to the state’s machinations. But so many others, despite
their being Filipino citizens, have likewise paid the price for being
outspoken in their dissent—including, it must be noted, the ultimate
punishment of death by lethal gunfire or jail time in our congested
prisons.

Sister Pat has said that she still hopes to return and resume her life’s
work when and if conditions turn in her favor. In the meantime, as she
prepares to fly out of the country, practically shooed out by a
government seemingly in mortal fear of a frail, soft-spoken 72-year-
old nun, she deserves a “pabaon” or keepsake: the gratitude of a
grateful nation touched by her devotion to her mission and her
abiding love for Filipinos. The memory of Sister Pat’s presence and
good deeds are an inspiration and example to all conscientious
Filipinos to fight on, especially on behalf of their fellow citizens who
are unable to fight for themselves

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/117209/farewell-for-now-sister-pat#ixzz5VmdqQYPa

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