Church officials mixed on Aquino's first SONA

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III's first State of the Nation Address (SONA) drew mixed reactions even from Catholic Church officials. While some bishops found Aquino's SONA "promising," others found it "uninspiring" because it failed to tackle issues like land reform. "(I am) confident things will be done," Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said in an article on the Union of Catholic Asian News website Monday night. Ledesma said he found some of what Aquino said “promising" although his proposed actions to address the country’s problems had been tried before.

Yet, he said Aquino has selected capable Cabinet members and that makes him confident the President can realize his vision of a clean and honest society. He also cited Aquino's drive to work for peace in Mindanao, which was among some of the bishops’ concerns. On the other hand, Ledesma said Aquino did not address directly a 13-point agenda proposed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. For his part, militant priest Jose Dizon said he wished Aquino spoke more of land reform than of infrastructure. He said the speech content and delivery were “uninspiring." In his speech, Aquino had lamented government expenditure the past six years exceeded its revenues. He also cited excessive salaries and bonuses of Manila waterworks system officials, and “politically motivated" expenditures in the National Power Corporation. For her part, Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines co-chairwoman Sister Mary John Mananzan said the speech was practical and centered on “making the life of people better by doing the right things." - KBK, GMANews.TV