Opinion and Commentary

Ledesma: Give way to young leaders

September 13, 2021, 9:21 pm

HARDCORE loyalists of President Rodrigo R. Duterte are mustering the courage to plead to him to give way for Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte to run for President by setting aside his plan to run for Vice President.   The pillars of Hugpong Ng Pagbabago, a regional party formed and chaired by… Read More

Ledesma: Brazen and shameless politicking

September 10, 2021, 11:15 am

THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) has become a veritable stage of political zarzuela where the grand inquisitors made the nation believe they have discovered a mountain of corruption in government overpriced purchases of personal protective equipment. Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Dick… Read More

Ledesma: I have money! Where do I put it?

September 9, 2021, 10:48 pm

NOT having money is a serious problem. Having money but not knowing how to properly handle them is an equally serious problem. Of course, between the two, we will all choose the latter. It is a positive problem that we can all wish for. But sad to say, a number of people who have money… Read More

Ledesma: What Davao clique?

September 1, 2021, 9:39 pm

SOME senators have selective memory. In the Senate's current investigation, they were talking of prices of personal protective equipment medical commodities today and stonewalled how much were the prices of the same items when the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) declared pandemic later. … Read More

Ledesma: Reporma’s criteria didn’t spare Miriam

August 25, 2021, 11:59 pm

REP. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez seemed to be careless these days not only about his health but his utterances. He can be tactless with his off-the-cuff statements and this had brought him some troubles in the past and then …now. In a recent interview with ANC Christian Esguerra, Congressman… Read More

Ledesma: The wheels of political fortune in Davao del Norte

August 23, 2021, 11:27 am

FOR several decades, elections in Davao del Norte had always been bland as the results could always be predicted months ahead of the actual polls. While they were not commanded or persuaded whom to vote electorates have their ears close to the ground and watched the body language of their… Read More

Ledesma: From experience to essential economy 

August 20, 2021, 6:13 pm

CONSUMER analysts are saying that every crisis triggers a change in the behavior of the buying public. This current health crisis is no different. Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen a major shift in how consumers are spending and what they are spending on.   From the pre-pandemic… Read More

Ledesma: Do not test Sara’s patience

August 14, 2021, 12:36 am

VICE President Leni Robredo is having a morbid fear. She cannot stand another six years of a Duterte administration. Obviously, she is referring to Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte who is leading in all Presidential surveys. The same anxiety disorder could describe Manila Mayor Isko Moreno… Read More

Ledesma: Making it through as virtual leaders

August 9, 2021, 5:29 pm

AS a result of the quarantines and lockdowns caused by the ongoing health crisis, the leaders of today found themselves navigating through the realm of virtual leadership. While some leaders of some multi-national companies have been doing virtual leadership before, the concept and practice… Read More

Ledesma: The Mindanao Olympians

August 6, 2021, 10:14 pm

THE signs of the times give glimpses of what’s up in the future. The coronavirus disease 2019 will be with us in various variants, but how long will it persist is for science to grapple with. So much stock knowledge made possible the quick development of vaccines and which have been proven to be… Read More

Ledesma: A leader’s challenge: M.E. in the new world 

August 1, 2021, 8:00 am

THE world is changing. And it's changing fast. The current pandemic has changed our world in a manner and speed that we have not seen and experienced before. The world we know 12 months ago is no longer the world we now have. In order to survive and thrive in what is now called the new normal, we… Read More

Ledesma: Partido Reporma a ruling party?

July 31, 2021, 1:32 am

IT’S  intriguing how Sen. Ping Lacson and Senate Pres. Tito Sotto arrived at a decision of latching at the moribund Partido Para sa Demokratikong Reporma, or Partido Reporma. Renato de Villa founded Partido Reporma in 1998 after he failed to get nominated as Presidential bet of Lakas-NUCD. He… Read More

Ledesma: This much I know about PRRD

July 23, 2021, 2:36 pm

HOW much do I know of PRRD? I have been asked that a couple of times before and after the 2016 presidential elections. Obviously and understandably, the reason behind this was that too little was known of Duterte. In retrospect, nothing much has been altered actually.  Not much has changed in… Read More

Ledesma: Man at work and money at work: How to do both

July 20, 2021, 11:54 pm

GROWING up, the only way I know how to earn money is by working. Either one gets employed or one puts up a business. In most of the families I know back then, the only source of income was the MAN AT WORK, referred to as the breadwinner. During that time, double-income families were not yet… Read More

Ledesma: Quo vadis Koko, Pacman?

July 16, 2021, 2:30 pm

THE surveys done by Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Station had been consistent. Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte had been leading the surveys. Atty. Howard Calleja, a convenor of 1Sambayan that had imploded before it can take off is still hoping the rating of the presidential daughter will… Read More

Ledesma: My second wave turned 1 

July 12, 2021, 7:00 pm

WITH much reluctance, I got my computer and wrote my first column for the local weekly newspaper, Mindanao Journal. This was one year ago and the title of my column was “Second Wave”. That was just a few months after I retired from my job for 27 years and thought of writing about how one… Read More

Ledesma: The unfolding of a grand alliance

July 9, 2021, 3:32 pm

SOMETHING there is that the opposition will find discomfiting and could paralyze them to inactivity and defeat. They had been busy speculating on whether or not Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is running for Vice President and cheering Sen. Manny Pacquiao aimless shotgun accusation of alleged corruption in… Read More

Ledesma:  This girl Is on FIRE… and you can be, too

July 5, 2021, 3:07 pm

THERE’S no doubt that the past 15 months have prompted many to take a serious look not only at their health status but at their financial standing, as well. The surge in the number of searches and researches on life and medical insurance, investment, and other financial programs over the… Read More

Ledesma: Duterte a lame duck?

June 29, 2021, 6:26 pm

PIA Ranada of Rappler did an interview with Ana Tabunda of Pulse Asia. It is obvious that this is part of the pre-SONA (State of the Nation Address) and also a pre-election agenda that Rappler had plotted. Pia came prepared with her questions which were liberally laced with opinions but she failed… Read More

Ledesma: Planning for your retirement just as important 

June 28, 2021, 5:55 pm

WHEN you ask most parents if they were able to save or invest in educational plans for their children, there’s a strong likelihood that the answer is a big yes. But ask again if they have secured funds for their own retirement, it’s most likely that their response is the opposite. This is… Read More