PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, April 18, revealed that he was behind the order to arrest Sister Patricia Fox, a 71-year-old Australian Roman Catholic nun who allegedly violated conditions for her stay in the country, because of her "foul mouth."
"I am with the executive department. I am a worker of the department and I give the orders. And the order who goes in and who goes out is with me," Duterte said in a speech delivered during the change-of-command rites of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
"I, as the head being there in that office in Pasig, have the right to say, 'Let that kind person in; Don't let that nun (Fox) in because she has foul mouth'," he added.
The firebrand President's remark came just hours after his spokesperson, Secretary Harry Roque Jr., said "apologies are perhaps in order" on the Fox case.
Fox, superior of the Our Lady of Sion congregation in the Philippines who has been working with farmers and indigenous peoples for the past 27 years, was arrested by immigration agents on Monday, April 16, for allegedly violating the conditions of her stay "by attending protest rallies and engaging in political activities."
Read: 71-year-old Australian nun arrested, detained
Fox was released a day later after immigration authorities found that her missionary visa is valid until September 2018.
Duterte said the Australian nun was released merley because there was no proof that she perpetrated a wrongdoing.
But he stressed that he would not bow down to any foreigner who will attempt to "malign" or "defame" his administration.
"You come here and insult us? You trample with our sovereignty? That will never happen. I assure you. If you begin to malign, defame government in any of those rallies there, I will order your arrest," the President said.
"The only reason why she was released was she was not caught in flagrante delicto. Meaning to say, she was not caught berating the government. Who are you, son of a...?" he added.
Duterte said he believed that Fox was meddling in the country's affairs by "trying to promote international or geographical governance."
He said the Australian nun should stop interfering and instead "go home and try to solve" her own country's problems.
"You nun, why don't you criticize your own government the way you handle refugees, hungry and dying and you turned them back to the open sea? And you're getting greedy of the natives there and refugees in an island. Why don't you just keep yakking there? You are too presumptuous about looking in the Philippines," Duterte said.
"You have more pressing issues on human rights. It's better here that I only kill criminals. How about you? (You kill) men, women and children seeking sanctuary. Under the heat of the sun and the coldness of the night, you drove them back to where they came from and you know that they were also being rejected from a country (from) where they were trying to flee," the President added.
Duterte also lashed out at Fox's religious affiliation, telling her that she should focus more on "correcting" the supposed abuses within the Catholic Church.
"Stick (to) your own religion and try to correct the abuses within your organization, to address homosexuality, and malpractices, and adulterous priests. P****," he said.
"I am a politician. I have been enduring attacks almost 40 years, nearing 40 years after my term. Inshallah. But to insult me under the cloth of being a Catholic priest (or nun), and you are a foreigner, who are you? You know, it's a violation of sovereignty," he added. (SunStar Philippines)