Media attention has largely concentrated on President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s detailed allegations in his first State of the Nation Address of extravagance and profligacy in Gloria Arroyo’s administration

The “expose” has been the subject of many column inches since the speech to the 15th Congress on Monday and little is to be gained by devoting more cyber space to issue.

Less attention-grabbing but more significant has been criticism of Aquino for his “lack of vision."

Bishop Leonardo Medroso of Tagbilaran for one has called for a clear articulation of how the new president sees Philippine society and how his administration will work towards those goals.

It is a fair question. A statement of vision anchors an institution’s decisions on the principles and values it chooses to uphold. It gives focus and basis for tracking progress, success and failure.

“When you become very specific and stuck on actions, whether of past officials or your own government, there is the danger of becoming myopic,” Bishop Medroso warns.

Just before the address, the bishop told me that he would like the president “to define what the Philippines will be” when his term is finished. Following the speech, the bishop, who represents Eastern Visayas bishops in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Permanent Council, said Aquino’s speech had failed to do that.

President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III making his first State of the Nation Address

It is disappointing to the Church which has devoted significant time and energy in planning assemblies to fleshing out and articulating its own “vision-mission” statement.

Bishops, priests and other Church personnel gathered with lay Church members from around the country for the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II) in 1991 for example.

Council document drafters, drawing on delegates’ input, summed up their vision of Philippines society. It said they would work so “That all may have life.”

”We shall have to create a free nation:

where human dignity and solidarity

are respected and promoted;

where moral principles prevail in socio-economic life and structure;

where justice, love, and solidarity are the inner driving forces of development.

“We shall have to build a sovereign nation:

where every tribe and faith are respected;

where diverse tongues and traditions work together for the good of all;

where membership is a call to participation and involvement

and leadership a summon to generous service.

“Ours will have to be a people

in harmony with one another through unity in diversity;

in harmony with creation,

and in harmony with God.

“Ours shall be a civilization of life and love.”

But Aquino’s speech made no similar attempt to itemize values and principles for the “straight path” he promised his administration would take, even if values upheld by PCP-II underpinned his proposed directions and actions.

His administration would be “public servants,” he said, promising they would serve the country honestly and making decisions to protect the common good.

These comments reflected his inaugural declaration that the people are his administration’s “boss,” that some see echoing principles applied in the Church itself.

“Aquino’s outlook is parallel to our vision of servant leadership in the Church,” Bishop Medroso said.

Bishop Medroso also praised Aquino’s initiatives to reach out to the masses. Even if his alleged “inexperience” and “lackluster” performance as legislator were true, these could be mere temporary handicaps if he knows “how to listen and dialogue with our people, and learn very much from their experiences,” the bishop said.

Jesuit development expert Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro, chairman of CBCP’s commission on interreligious dialogue, also praised Aquino’s thrust to fight corruption.

CBCP has devoted several recent pastoral statements to the “sin” of graft and corruption. It has called Catholics to “seek the truth” and fight to change cultural practices that perpetuate the problem.

He said it was also a “welcome” step Aquino took to encourage public-private partnership. The prelate noted the Church for years has been working to engage members through basic ecclesial communities to participate in decisions affecting their lives and training them to analyze problems to find solutions.

In his speech, Aquino reminded fellow citizens it was “every Filipino’s duty to closely watch the leaders that you have elected. I encourage everyone to take a step towards participation rather than fault-finding. The former takes part in finding a solution; from the latter, never-ending complaints.”

Some Church leaders in Mindanao, however, question Aquino’s failure to appoint people from their southern Philippines region to his Cabinet.

Church concerns over land ownership, reproductive health issues and mining were among those many feel were not satisfactorily addressed.

Bishop Deogracias Iniguez of Kalookan and fellow members in the Movement for a Nationalist Economy say they will be watching the government’s economic policies.

“Our economic sovereignty is very important. Government’s relationship with foreign investors and its policies related to these are some of our concerns. Environment is part of the real concern now,” he told me.

He acknowledged the address seemed to leave “a good impression in general” even if not all specific concerns listed by Catholic officials were directly addressed.

His response reflects the general good wishes and hopes of the Church and Filipinos in general. It is, after all, only Aquino’s first State of the Nation Address, delivered over a month after inauguration. It shows his sense of what is wrong and where his administration should not go.

Hopefully, his second address will have more substantial information on the Philippines we all should be working towards.

For now, remaining in critical collaboration with government seems the most reasonable and practical position for the official Church. But with the country, as highlighted by Aquino, facing such dire and widespread poverty, material and moral, in slum areas, government coffers and offices alike, there is no room for complacency.

Church leaders and members must continue to help by cooperating and critiquing Aquino after his by and large hopeful beginnings.

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NJ Viehland has been actively involved with ucanews.com since 1985 and is in charge of its operations in the Philippines

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