Opinion and Commentary

Ledesma: Absence does not make heart grow fonder

March 22, 2022, 2:43 am

WE are all familiar with the proverbial saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder.” It means that when people we love are not with us, we love them even more. It conveys the idea that when we are far from someone, that’s the time we realize how much they mean to us, how much we care for… Read More

Ledesma: The power opiate

March 17, 2022, 1:48 pm

AT this point in the presidential and vice-presidential race, the players already have the gut feel how each of them is faring in the derby. Strangely in our country where no candidates ever lost except when cheated, the spectacle never ceased to entertain.  Let's look at the results of the… Read More

Ledesma: Comedic nightmare

March 11, 2022, 11:10 am

WITH just two months to go before May 29 elections, the air smells of murk and campaign speeches rise to a crescendo heavy with identical promises. Debates are no longer informative and entertaining save for the incisive questions from Prof. Clarita Carlos.  Watching and listening to so many… Read More

Ledesma: The curse on Partido Reporma

March 3, 2022, 11:16 pm

THE campaign period for locally-elected positions starts on March 25. The trend of the voters’ preference will significantly have an impact on the local polls. This will be most pronounced in Davao Region and here’s the reason why. It was in Davao del Norte where Partido Para sa Demokratikong… Read More

Ledesma: Drowning in the sea of immorality

February 26, 2022, 11:43 pm

IF you think you have seen the height of political oddities in Isko Moreno - Sara Duterte tandem, then think of another strange political weirdness when a couple both heads opposing political parties.  In Davao de Oro, the 4th richest province in the Philippines, 2nd District Rep. Ruwel Peter… Read More

Ledesma: Families and friendships over politics

February 19, 2022, 11:47 am

ONE sound advice that I got when I was younger was to avoid discussions on politics and religion during gatherings. It’s because, almost always, the discussion will end up in this scenario: You win a point but lose a family member or a friend in the process. Since both politics and religion… Read More

Ledesma: Spare the PWDs 

February 19, 2022, 10:20 am

THE campaign of Partido Reporma in Davao took a bad turn when its President, Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez went berserk, cussing a vice gubernatorial candidate of Hugpong Ng Pagbabago and describing him as a “special and autistic child”.  The person he is referring to is De Carlo “Oyo”… Read More

Ledesma: Proclamation rallies

February 10, 2022, 9:36 pm

IF the number of attendees on political proclamation rallies was to be the barrometer of who will likely win in the May 9, 2022, presidential elections it is indubitable that Bongbong Marcos and Inday Sara Duterte are the clear winners. In and out of the huge Philippine arena, were teeming with… Read More

Ledesma: Sara, a tough act to follow

February 4, 2022, 3:20 pm

VICE Presidential bet Inday Sara Duterte is simply a hard act to follow. She is way ahead of her adversaries in all poll surveys but she too is singularly the only candidate who can withstand the rigors of a national campaign, hopping from one island to another not in an air-conditioned van but on… Read More

Ledesma: New Year’s financial resolutions 

February 2, 2022, 4:50 pm

HOW fast time flies! Today is the last day of January 2022. One month has already gone in the new year. By this time, plans have been drawn and laid down for 2022. In fact, some are already being implemented.  And from my talks with some family members, friends, and colleagues, I sensed their… Read More

Ledesma: Micromanaging

January 28, 2022, 4:26 pm

PRESIDENTIAL wannabe Leni Robredo just proved to the world that she is not the kind of leader the Philippines deserves.  In an interview with the country’s “King” of talk show, Boy Abunda, the Vice President emphatically insisted that in times of emergencies she has to be personally on top… Read More

Ledesma: Walden could never be like Sara

January 20, 2022, 8:41 pm

WALDEN Bello has carved his name in various issues that range from economy, environment, human rights and politics all anchored on communist ideology. With that credentials he thought he is good enough to be Vice President of the Philippines.  Walden has always been a critic of any… Read More

Ledesma: Robredo’s vow

January 14, 2022, 3:42 pm

DID I hear it right? Presidential aspirant Leni Robredo was quoted as saying she vows “to restore the people’s trust in government”.  This is both an insult to President Rodrigo R. Duterte and a proposition that we install the Aquino brand of leadership in the government with which she has… Read More

Ledesma: Finding our North Star

January 10, 2022, 3:57 pm

“WHAT the new year will bring to you depends a great deal on what you bring to the new year.” - Yern Mclellan It’s customary that either before or at the start of each new year we make our personal New Year’s resolutions. It’s a list of all the things we want to continue doing, stop… Read More

Ledesma: Bracing for Omicron 

January 6, 2022, 8:14 pm

THE surge of COVID -19 all over the country is something of grave concern. At a rapid rate, people are infected health authorities are presently on red alert. Our economic managers are again jittery, the gains that had slightly increased following the dramatic decline of Covid cases prompted by… Read More

Gomez: Davao’s allure endures

January 3, 2022, 11:51 pm

MY parents were probably some of the most quintessential migrants from Manila. They had literally blazed their own trails in the jungles of Compostela in the 1950s, an ocean away from the upper- and middle-class comforts of Manila. Yet over the years, more and more people have cast a second look… Read More

Ledesma: Shame and scandal in Davao del Norte

December 29, 2021, 8:42 pm

A BUDGET for snacks amounting to ₱32-million pesos in the midst of a pandemic is not only cruel but outrageous! That translates to about ₱88,000 per day to include Saturdays and Sundays or ₱122,000 daily if you exclude the weekends. Now if that is not cruelty and brazenly immoral I do not… Read More

Gomez: A Promdi Christmas

December 26, 2021, 12:21 am

AS a Promdi (that’s someone “from the province” for you), I’m no stranger to spending Christmases away from my home in Davao City. When I was growing up, for example, my family and I would spend Christmas Day in Daliao, Toril, where my cousins lived. That was how it’s always been, us… Read More

Ledesma: Sara’s wish

December 26, 2021, 12:16 am

WHILE we, for one brief moment, wish to forget politics we cannot escape the heat and the beat from the simmering December. The May 22  regular elections is just a nap away and not even the coldness of December wind or the wrath of Odette can temper the mood of the time.  All surveys from… Read More

Ledesma: 2021: From worst to good

December 21, 2021, 12:28 am

IN just a few more days, we draw the curtain for 2021.  Coming from a year that gave us the covid-19 pandemic outbreak and brought almost everyone in a downward spiral, we started 2021 still with an ounce of pessimism.  As much as we wanted to face it more positively, we were still carrying… Read More