MANILA, July 15, 2011— The Aquino administration remains “untarnished” by allegations of corruption but has yet to prove its worth in governance, a Catholic bishop said.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas reminded President Benigno Aquino III that integrity is not enough because leadership is about vision setting too.
“In the ‘balanced square’ of leadership, the other three sides must be economic progress and stability; second, political will and clarity of laws; and the third is availability of education and social services,” said Villegas.
“If these three sides are given equal support connected by integrity and blameless living, even integrity itself will become part of our national ethics and the rays of bright future await us,” he said.
Villegas made the statement yesterday in a speech before the Rotary Club meeting and induction ceremonies at the Lyceum of Northwestern Philippines in Dagupan City.
According to the incoming vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Aquino’s possession of integrity was a good start but more was needed.
“Leadership without vision is treachery to the governed. Integral leadership also means setting the path towards the future,” he said.
Leadership, he added, must also be integrating in the sense that it must embrace and unite and not alienate and divide.
“The true statesman must reach out and seek consensus. The leader is a servant not only of those who support him but even more of those who do not share his vision. The man of integrity must also be a man of unity,” Villegas said.
“Prosecution for previous wrongdoings must be carried out to the full but such must be done in pursuit of justice not revenge. Political vendetta divides even more,” he said.
President Aquino is set to deliver his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25. [CBCPNews]
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