CANBERRA, Australia: The Philippines on Wednesday canceled an Australian nun’s missionary visa for engaging in political activity and gave her 30 days to leave the country, though she said she still hoped she could explain her mission and have the decision reconsidered.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered an investigation into 71-year-old Sister Patricia Fox as an “undesirable” foreigner.
The Bureau of Immigration’s board of commissioners had canceled Fox’s visa and ordered her to leave due to “her involvement in partisan political activities,” Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.
“She (Fox) was found to have engaged in activities that are not allowed under the terms and conditions of her visa,” Morente said.
Fox’s visa “granted her only the privilege to engage in missionary work and not in political activities,” he added.
Fox is a coordinator of a Philippine congregation of Roman Catholic nuns called Notre Dame de Sion and has lived in the Philippines for almost 30 years.
Fox said she was surprised by the decision that she only heard of through the media.
“I was surprised as I had thought the process was that I would have 10 days to put in a counter affidavit to answer the charges,” Fox said in a statement.
“I am very sad that the decision at present is that I leave the Philippines,” she added.
She still held out hope that the authorities would change their minds.
“As a Christian, believing that our mission is to bring God’s Kingdom to the here and now, I couldn’t help but to get involved both with projects, such as training in organic farming, to uplift the livelihood of the farmers, but also to advocate with them for their rights to land, livelihood, peace, justice and security, all universal human rights which the church sees as integral to her mission,” Fox said.
“It seems this is what has brought me into conflict with the Philippine government,” Fox added. “I am still hoping for a chance to explain how I see my mission as a religious sister and maybe the decision can be reconsidered.”
She said on Monday that she was taken from her house last week and detained at the Bureau of Immigration in Manila for almost 24 hours.
“They ordered an investigation for disorderly conduct. I was laughing, saying I have a disorderly room, but I don’t know about disorderly conduct,” Fox told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“For me, it is part of my mission as a Catholic sister to stand beside those whose human rights have been violated, who are asking for help,” she added.
Fox had taken part in rallies demanding the release of political prisoners and urging Philippine authorities to respect human rights.
Philippines gives Australian nun 30 days to leave country
Philippines gives Australian nun 30 days to leave country
Russia strikes power plant, kills four in Ukraine barrage
KHARKIV: Russia battered Ukraine with more than two dozen missiles and hundreds of drones early Tuesday, killing four people and pummelling another power plant, piling more pressure on Ukraine’s brittle energy system.
An AFP journalist in the eastern Kharkiv region, where four people were killed, saw firefighters battling a fire at a postal hub and rescue workers helping survivors by lamp light in freezing temperatures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “several hundred thousand” households near Kyiv were without power after the strikes, and again called on allies to bolster his country’s air defense systems.
“The world can respond to this Russian terror with new assistance packages for Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media.
“Russia must come to learn that cold will not help it win the war,” he added.
Authorities in Kyiv and the surrounding region rolled out emergency power cuts in the hours after the attack, saying freezing temperatures were complicating their work.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy provider, said Russian forces had struck one of its power plants, saying it was the eighth such attack since October.
The operator did not reveal which of its plants was struck, but said Russia had attacked its power plants over 220 times since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Daily attacks
Moscow has pummelled Ukraine with daily drone and missile barrages in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and cutting power and heating in the frigid height of winter.
The Ukrainian air force said that Tuesday’s bombardment included 25 missiles and 247 drones.
The Kharkiv governor gave the death toll and added that six people were wounded in the overnight hit outside the region’s main city, also called Kharkiv.
White helmeted emergency workers could be seen clambering through the still-smoking wreckage of a building occupied by postal company Nova Poshta, in a video posted by the regional prosecutor’s office.
Within Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said a Russian long-range drone struck a medical facility for children, causing a fire. No casualties were reported.
The overnight strikes hit other regions as well, including southern city Odesa.
Residential buildings, a hospital and a kindergarten were damaged, with at least five people wounded in two waves of attacks, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said.
Russia’s use last week of a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine sparked condemnation from Kyiv’s allies, including Washington, which called it a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation of this war.”
Moscow on Monday said the missile hit an aviation repair factory in the Lviv region and that it was fired in response to Ukraine’s attempt to strike one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences — a claim Kyiv denies and that Washington has said it does not believe happened.
