Priest: Present situation is like martial law years

Sister Fox stops over the Baclaran Church in Pasay City on her way to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2. Fox is set to leave the country on Saturday.
INQUIRER PHOTO

The present situation is no different from the martial law years under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Fr. Angel Cortez, co-executive director of the Association of the Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), made this statement on Saturday, hours before the departure of Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox from the country.

Cortez said that the critics that include the Church, now and during the time of Marcos were both put into silence despite of just speaking the truth.

“Ang panahon po na ito ay walang pinagkaiba sa panahon ng martial law. Ang panahon po na ito ay walang pinagbago sa mga taong dinukot at pinahirapan, na ang simbahan ang palaging sinisingil at sinusupil,” Cortez said in a Homily during the pre-departure Mass organized for Fox.

During the term of Marcos, cases of hundred individuals missing were prevalent.

Fox, meanwhile, was ordered deported for violating “the limitations and conditions in granting the missionary visa … and order her deportation to Australia, subject to her submission of all appropriate clearances.”

She served as a missionary in the country for 27 years, fighting for justice with farmers and the poor.

Cortez also said that the deportation case of Fox showed the irony of those who claimed to be Catholics but were okay with public killings, harassment of women, and Fox’s deportation.

Despite the deportation order of the Bureau of Immigration against Fox, Cortez said that the public should remain “fearless” and “steadfast.”

“Dapat magsilbi ito na paalala na dapat tayo ay manindigan at hindi dapat matakot,” he said.

Fox is set to leave the country on Saturday night.