PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III's last State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered at the joint session of Congress on Monday drew mixed reviews from lawmakers.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, Aquino gave a "good account" of his five years of governance.
"No matter what the critics say, they cannot deny the fact that we have gone a long way. And the legacy of the President is to continue that 'Daang Matuwid,'" Drilon told Sun.Star.
He also expressed support to Aquino's call for Congress to give teeth to the constitutional provision that prohibits the proliferation of political dynasties.
"I am in favor of that (anti-political dynasty bill). We have to push it hard especially in the last year (of the 16th Congress)," the senator said.
Aquino in his speech said he will ask Congress to prioritize the passage of the Anti-Dynasty bill, as he criticized those who wants to stay in power for personal interest.
"There is something inherently wrong in giving a corrupt family or individual an indefinite monopoly of public office," Aquino said in Filipino.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. lauded Aquino's Sona even as he defended the Chief Executive's latest tirades against his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Belmonte said Aquino's attacks against Arroyo were "nothing personal" because he only wanted to prove his point that the country's condition improves during his five-year administration.
But Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, was quick to defend his ailing wife and said, "GMA (Arroyo) is his trophy. He has no accomplishments at all."
Senator Cynthia Villar gave Aquino final Sona a grade of "fair seven" saying the current administration did not succeed in eradicating poverty.
"We give it to him to have economic gains, to have anti-corruption campaign, and to work for social services. In the end, I'm watching for poverty alleviation but we did not succeed there so in his last year, he should do something about it," said the senator, whose husband former Senator Manuel Villar lost to Aquino during the 2010 presidential race.
Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito lauded the President for his good governance, but said Aquino should have included the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill in his speech.
"There's something lack (in his Sona). The FOI, if he pushes it to be enacted into law, could have been the perfect instrument to achieve the reform he is pushing," Ejercito said.
The exclusion of the FOI bill in the President's speech frustrated his potential successor, Senator Grace Poe, whose committee on information tackled the FOI bill in the Senate.
Poe said she was expecting the President would include the bill in his speech, as the proposed measure would help in his fight against corruption.
The FOI has been approved in the Senate but its counterpart bill in the House of Representatives remains pending at the committee level.
Poe also said that Aquino did not mention that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is the one accountable for the glitches plaguing the Metro Railway Transit (MRT) 3.
"Process to obtain new MRT rails underway, together with the upgrading of the signaling and automatic fare collecting system," said Aquino in his Sona as he assured that improvement in MRT service will be felt before end of 2015.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said the President should give more time to address problems in transportation and poverty.
"I'm hoping that there will be other speeches that will tackle these because if not, it will open up the opportunity for the Vice President Binay and other critics to illustrate the country (that way)," he said.
For opposition lawmaker Toby Tiangco, Aquino cannot take credit for the conditional cash transfer program, which provides monetary assistance to poor families in exchange for sending their children to school and bringing them to hospitals for regular medical check-up.
He said the CCT was started by Arroyo.
Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones added the CCT is not a concrete solution to eradicating poverty.
"Hindi pamimigay ng pera ang solusyon, trabaho ang dapat pagtuunan ng pansin. Besides, CCT is directed to children of school age and pregnant women, leaving out those who are not in this group of poor," she said in a statement.
Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo whose late husband, Jesse Robredo, served as Aquino's Cabinet Secretary said the President was able to tell the public the fruits of his "tuwid na daan" leadership.
"Dati kasi ang perception sa tuwid na daan parang abstract. Ngayon parang na-define in very measurable terms yung ginawa ng daan. Pero hindi pa perpekto kasi meron pa tayong isang taon," she said. (Sunnex)