Opinion and Commentary

From the Mail: UNESCO FIASCO: Travesty of justice for Ampatuan massacre victims

December 2, 2020, 10:02 pm

By Atty. Perry L. Solis Jr. ACCORDING to a recent Reuter’s headline, “too much politics leaves UNESCO fighting for life.” Indeed, there is much to be desired about the recent actions of the once esteemed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO). UNESCO is… Read More

Ledesma: ‘Tis the season to go local and small

November 27, 2020, 10:05 am

DURING this uncertain time, it is just expected that most people will spend more on the basics and eliminate most luxuries. People are more cautious when it comes to spending and budgeting every centavo is a must.It is also during this uncertain time that our small local businesses are most… Read More

Ledesma:  Davao City getting out of the woods 

November 27, 2020, 10:00 am

STRICT implementation of health protocols and restrictions against Covid-19 is all that is needed to control the spike of Covid-19 cases in Davao City.  For now, the earlier proposal to place 35 barangays under lockdown had been set aside. The culprit it is turning out was the lifting of curfew… Read More

Laurel: China Covid-19 vax in developing countries

November 19, 2020, 4:00 pm

AS Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the now world-renowned US American immunologist who had served as director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and one of the lead members of the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force until their falling out, in an interview with JAMA (Journal… Read More

Ledesma: Online selling fuels economic activity during pandemic 

November 19, 2020, 3:29 pm

WHEN you go to the malls, department stores, restaurants, and groceries, you would see very few people inside. Not many activities can be seen in these establishments. And since we are a country that is known to prefer doing shopping in the actual stores and prefer eating out, seeing these… Read More

Ledesma: Rescue and aid are not for show

November 19, 2020, 3:22 pm

TO save people from danger and distress is an innate virtue to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Bong Go. This is known quite well to us Dabawenyos when the President was still Mayor of Davao City and the Senator his executive assistant. Both of them had served in those capacities for over 20 years… Read More

Ledesma: Who should Biden believe?

November 13, 2020, 8:25 pm

THIS early, American President-elect Joseph Biden has articulated the Republican interventionist foreign policy that looks at other nations he describes as allies but treats them as the US vassal states. In his post-election speech, Biden warned that America will only extend help to countries that… Read More

Laurel: Of China and Biden

November 11, 2020, 9:49 pm

WHAT Trump’s four years of trade and tech war with China proved and left no doubt about it that the US cannot do and will not heal without cooperative relations with China. Trumps’ trade war that intensified in his last two years in office did not deliver a single promise made upon its launch:… Read More

Ledesma: The expensive price of disobedience

November 9, 2020, 9:25 am

TO help the country bounce back from the economic backlash brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, several provinces and cities were put in a more relaxed quarantine status. Under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), which is the least restricted of all the quarantines, more business… Read More

Ledesma:  Missing Duterte?

November 6, 2020, 3:35 pm

SEVERAL days ahead of Typhoon Rolly’s landfall, announcements were made through hundreds of media outlets that the howler is extremely powerful it could cause severe destruction along its path. Bicol Region, The Southern Tagalog Region, Metro Manila, and Quezon Province had been alerted and… Read More

Ledesma: Balancing act 

November 2, 2020, 1:02 am

IF there’s one thing that really benefited from the pandemic and from the quarantine...it’s Mother Nature! After so much use and abuse by the people who should be protecting them, Mother Nature had its much-deserved rest!  With lesser cars and motorists on the streets, one can breathe fresh… Read More

Ledesma: The battle of 'isms' and Red-tagging

October 30, 2020, 2:03 pm

WHAT’S the big fuss over communism and being a communist? Communism had been decriminalized a long time ago. The problem here is that Jose Ma. Sison refused to dismantle the New People’s Army and that is the root cause why Red tagging becomes a controversy. If the government has Bureau of… Read More

Laurel: Xi’s Korean War warning to preserve peace

October 26, 2020, 5:28 pm

THE West really turned its head east and widened its eyes and ears when last October 23, President Xi Jinping, presiding over a major commemoration of the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War or the “War to Resist American Aggression and Aid Korea,” spoke of the push back… Read More

Ledesma: To Sir and Ma’am, with love

October 26, 2020, 5:18 pm

ASK any group of children what they want to become when they grow up, and the majority will reply... “I want to be a Teacher!” It’s a dream profession for many, including this writer. Ask any group of teenagers who their first crush was, and the majority will shyly confess... “It’s my… Read More

Ledesma: DepEd’s display of profligacy

October 24, 2020, 10:02 pm

SECRETARY Leonor Briones of the Department of Education (DepEd) should be ashamed of herself. Buying 254 units of Mitsubishi pickups with a price tag of P1.4-million each (https://www.topgear.com.ph/news/industry-news/2020-mitsubishi-strada-specs-prices-features-a962-20201023) is not only… Read More

Ledesma: Ganging up on Pialago

October 22, 2020, 5:35 pm

CELINE Pialago, the articulate and straight-to-the-point spokesperson of Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was on the receiving end of hysterical flak from the phalanx of human rights activists, leftist propagandists, and some ignoramuses in the movie world. These stemmed from her remarks… Read More

Ledesma: Kindness knows no quarantine

October 16, 2020, 5:37 pm

ONE of the silver linings during the Covid-19 pandemic is the random act of kindness from ordinary citizens. While the government continues to provide for our needy brothers and sisters through the Bayanihan Acts 1 and 2, a number of private individuals were silently doing their own fundraising… Read More

Ledesma: Lord and the gavel

October 14, 2020, 9:11 pm

IRREVOCABLE resignation and the symbolism of mace are now irrelevant. As the last string to cling to the speakership of the House, a faithful subaltern of Rep. Bebot Alvarez quickly took hold of the mace believing he or she who is in possession of the mace is the legitimate speaker. In a… Read More

Ledesma: And the survey says ...

October 8, 2020, 12:56 pm

I DON'T know who commissioned Pulse Asia to conduct a survey on the sentiments of the people amidst the pandemic which, like other countries worldwide, shook the foundations of every government and private institution. The Philippines is not spared and considering the density of our population the… Read More

Ledesma: Metrics that matter 

October 5, 2020, 5:04 pm

EVERYDAY, we are being bombarded with negative news, gloomy forecasts, and government inefficiencies and ineffectiveness. If we are to believe everything that these naysayers are saying, it looks like the Philippines and the Filipinos can no longer recover from the ill effects of the pandemic. If… Read More