Opinion and Commentary
From the Mail: Which is which, Caloocan or Kalookan?
December 6, 2018, 2:45 pm
By Severino Samonte MANILA -- What or which is the correct and proper spelling of the name of the 56-year-old Caloocan/Kalookan City in northern Metro Manila? Observant people, even those on a first visit to the city, will surely notice the varying spellings of the city’s name such as with two… Read More
Ledesma: Adventurism in Talaingod town
December 5, 2018, 10:29 am
THIS hinterland town is home to gentle and peaceful indigenous tribe – Talaingod. The local and the provincial government have seen to it that their culture and traditions are preserved. Even the curriculum of their education dovetails with these as observed in the Davao del Norte State College-… Read More
Ledesma: Bong Go wins a top endorser
December 3, 2018, 5:12 pm
THEY do not know each other but they have heard of each other. They have not even met but each knew what they do in their respective endeavors. Bong Go, the most trusted man of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte when it comes to performing the tasks in the corporate social responsibility program of the… Read More
Ledesma: Jess Dureza’s quest for peace
November 29, 2018, 9:47 pm
SEC. Jesus Dureza has liberated himself from the iniquitous iniquity of the bureaucracy. He was to deliver the axe himself on the two ranking officials who oversee the PAMANA projects of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Peace Process. He was just validating the pieces of information… Read More
From the Mail: A rainbow is seen in Sino-Filipino ties
November 23, 2018, 3:32 pm
By Xu Qinduo AFTER years of hardship, China-Philippines relations have reached a new level. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte held talks on Nov. 20 and decided to establish a comprehensive, strategic and cooperative relationship between China and the… Read More
Ledesma: Bong Go's decided advantage
November 23, 2018, 2:39 pm
FORMER Special Assistant to the President, Sec. Bong Go, may not be aware that his official and now private outreach initiatives to nameless people have significant impact not only in terms of numbers of individuals and communities he helped but also in the deep sense of gratefulness that he might… Read More
Ledesma: Welcome, Pres. Xi Jinping!
November 20, 2018, 1:34 pm
WHAT makes the Philippine-China relations so distinct from the other countries that China had engaged with? Is it on account of its strategic navigational route that can spell the difference between victory and defeat in commerce and trade and armed conflict or it is simply on account of a special… Read More
Ledesma: Preview of Davao’s political landscape
November 19, 2018, 2:24 pm
POLITICS creates bonds of friendships, strong ties that decide what course the government pursues. But politics creates the deepest cleavage even among friends that leads to irrational conflicts that damage the government units they govern and divide political constituencies. This describes the… Read More
From the Mail: Beijing, Manila set to reap more benefits of pragmatism
November 19, 2018, 10:24 am
By Ding Heng PRESIDENT Xi Jinping’s visit to Manila represents another positive step forward in the relationship between China and the Philippines. At least five economic agreements are expected to be signed during his visit, according to Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. It is… Read More
From the Mail: It's full steam ahead for PNA
November 14, 2018, 7:38 pm
By Pia Roces Morato THE Philippine News Agency is once again being given the attention it so rightfully deserves as partnerships are being forged with different state news agencies around the world and rightfully so. It is with sheer pride to witness first hand in this current administration, a… Read More
Ledesma: Of PNA and Sputnik
November 14, 2018, 4:53 pm
WHAT has Rapplers’ Pia Ranada against the Philippine News Agency’s plan of having a sharing arrangement of news and feature articles with Russia’s Sputnik own news agency? For owing so much allegiance to US-based Omidyar Network that invested on Rappler, Ranada cannot keep her bias and… Read More
Ledesma: The unrelenting war against corruption
November 5, 2018, 3:50 pm
WHO ever said corruption in the government will be swept in two to three years must be dreaming. Not even with a magic wand can Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte do that. Corruption in the government bureaucracy was institutionalized by the BSA III administration. It is is a Herculean job for Duterte to… Read More
Ledesma: Bogus cabal behind Sonny’s ouster plot?
November 2, 2018, 12:59 pm
IT looks like Coalitions Against Corruption are dime a dozen. I wrote a piece the other day following a headline story of a major daily citing CAC calling for the resignation of Finance Chief Sonny Dominguez for what they claimed was his silence over the huge volume of shipment of shabu in Cavite… Read More
Ledesma: In defense of Sec. Sonny Dominguez
October 31, 2018, 3:19 pm
TWO things are happening on the eve of the unprecedented visit of China Pres. Xi Jinping. There is a perceptible attempt of the western press and its clones in Southeast Asia and the Philippines to demonize China’s foreign policies and assault on the integrity of some of the Cabinet members of… Read More
Ledesma: TOKHANG
October 30, 2018, 12:03 pm
GENERAL Ronald “Bato” del Rosa is less heard these days despite his senatorial bid but he makes it big in the arena of lexicon. Remember his slogan “TOKHANG”? It is now the most popular word for year 2018 and it might land in the Oxford Dictionary. If that will be the basis of what is to… Read More
Ledesma: Fishing faults on Bong Go
October 19, 2018, 5:19 pm
THERE is a saying among us Pinoys which says “ang punong hitik ng bunga ang siyang pinupokol”. The tree that bears bountiful fruits is stoned. That is as true today as ever as it was before. This adage finds meaning and significance during the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy for senator… Read More
Ledesma: The die is cast in Davao region
October 16, 2018, 1:17 pm
CERTIFICATES of Candidacy for various positions have been filed by the time this piece hits the press and social media. But of course the battle lines had been drawn and the imponderables in Philippine political and election jamboree starts. Like we see alliances broken because after all what is… Read More
Ledesma: Sustaining Manila’s food supply
October 10, 2018, 12:00 pm
PHILIPPINES, just like most countries in the world, are affected by the impact of the spike of oil prices and the decline of productivity on account of immense weather disturbances. We are not immune from these iniquities and there seems to be no adequate and quick solutions for these problems.… Read More
Ledesma: The Red October
October 9, 2018, 12:00 pm
THE warning of the intelligence community about a specter of an organized attempt to overthrow the government of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte this October appears to be true and looming. From what we have seen so far, student activisms have become perceptible and coordinated in state and private colleges… Read More
Ledesma: Of tax clearances & PhilGEPS certificates
September 28, 2018, 4:48 pm
WE have been so pregnant with cacophony of issues that had been whipped up by the conspiracy of political opposition, politicized clerics, pan-handling human rights NGOs and the CPP/NPA/NDF that we overlooked some significant developments which are of better import than the razzmatazz of Trillanes… Read More
