© NASSA/Caritas Philippines Facebook Page
The social action arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines said President Rodrigo Duterte presented “no clear roadmap of governance” during his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday.
“The fifth year in power of President Rodrigo Duterte was host to a myriad of events that could have been a great opportunity to show true patriotism, leadership, and compassion,” the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines said in a statement on July 28.
“Instead, it [became] more [of] a mockery of democracy, justice, freedom, and public service… President Duterte just exposed how troubled the executive leadership is in terms of managing the state affairs,” the statement continued.
The organization’s national director, Bishop Colin Bagaforo, said Duterte was “so enraged” and “divided further an already broken nation.”
Fr. Tony Labiao, the newly installed executive secretary of Caritas Philippines, said the speech was “devoid of compassion.”
“We listened to a speech … [which lacked] the essential elements to unite a nation: focus, sincerity, and optimism,” he said in the statement.
The two expressed concern over the president’s “distorted view of life and human rights” due to his war-on-drugs obsession, despite attempts to improve child protection against abuse and exploitation.
“We cannot depend on [the] death penalty to destroy forces of evil… We need to clean our bureaucracy to [instill] order and respect for the rule of law. We need leaders who respect human dignity and with [the] political will to steer us in the right direction,” the NASSA/Caritas statement said.
Bagaforo nonetheless cited the president’s desire to improve the economy and put up a more effective system for retirement and pension.
“We even laud the government’s anti-red tape measures, its programs for the OFWs, and the initiatives to support small and medium enterprises. But these are the regular affairs of the government, the mandates of a public office,” Bagaforo said. Francis David Perez