Opinion and Commentary

Ledesma: Sen Bong Go, the Action Man

December 19, 2019, 3:09 pm

POLITICIANS have varied agenda and persuasion. Others got into politics not knowing what to do. Most have a gift of gab others just vocal cords. We see them among those who have stuck in politics like barnacles for they have made it their industry or to protect their industry or their benefactors'… Read More

From the Mail: Joma's exclusive franchise

December 19, 2019, 10:00 am

By Victoria Patria SO, it is very clear now. If Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Jose Maria "Joma" Sison is just 'simply a senior political consultant'' of the National Democratic Front (NDF), as he would like to insist about his role in the peace process of the government… Read More

From the Mail: Peace from the concrete standpoint, viewpoint of the people

December 15, 2019, 11:28 pm

By Victoria Patria 1. Peace is indeed beyond simply the absence of war. Attaining true peace by way of implementing social justice is the most sustainable means of gaining peace for our people and our motherland. Social justice is both a legal mandate and moral obligation of our government to the… Read More

Ledesma: Of U2’s Bono, truth and fiction

December 12, 2019, 2:50 pm

PAUL David Hewson, alias “Bono” is an Irish celebrity who made millions trying to sell poverty and human rights by sugar-coating this with emotional blackmail in his concerts worldwide. He is the front act of U2 a rock band. I must admit that I like the message of the few songs I heard which… Read More

Ledesma: Battling the oligarchy

December 6, 2019, 7:45 pm

PISSED by the verdict of Singapore-based Arbitration Court that directed the Philippine government to compensate the MWSS concessionaires billions of pesos for alleged losses they incurred, an irate President Rodrigo Duterte issued a stern warning he will charge Maynilad and Manila Water top… Read More

From the Mail: HK Yellow wins like EDSA

December 2, 2019, 2:42 pm

MOST people around the world that took notice of the recent elections in Hong Kong were surprised by the “landslide” win of the Yellow movement in Hong Kong. I call that movement Yellow because it is very similar to the Yellow movement that instigated and triumphed the 1986 “color… Read More

Ledesma: Proud watching SEAG in the boondocks of Mindanao

December 2, 2019, 2:16 pm

THE President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, did a little dancing ala “budots” to the cadence of songs, drums, and gongs while the Sultan of Brunei, His Majesty Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, clapped in awe amid the euphoria that defined the magnificent opening ceremonies of the 30th SEA Games.… Read More

Ledesma: Washing dirty linen in a cauldron

November 27, 2019, 9:33 am

WE senior citizens have a penchant for folkloric tales which many of us believe as much as we do the Chinese Fengshui. Oh yes, despite our avowed claim to be a Christian nation and this is true to Roman Catholics of various shades and protestants of various denominations. No wonder why… Read More

From the Mail: China, US in Duterte’s anti-drug war

November 18, 2019, 12:19 pm

By Mario Ferdinand Pasion THE surprise offer of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to Vice-President Leonora Robredo to sit in the government’s anti-drug war command after her months of lambasting the administration’s campaign perplexed the public, experts and ordinary folks, no end.… Read More

Ledesma: Free shabu, hugs, and kisses

November 15, 2019, 11:52 am

VICE President Leni Robredo enjoys the limelight that the media give her. The exposure, however, reveals her naiveté and ignorance about the menace of drugs, the networks of drug syndicates and how seriously we were pushed into being a narco-state by the tolerant Aquino administration. As a drug… Read More

Ledesma: My country a war zone?

November 12, 2019, 11:54 am

IT'S mid-November and Christmas season in the Philippines is in the air. Despite natural calamities that hit us, the survivalist Filipinos will find the way to celebrate the season. And yes, in disaster-hit towns and cities in Cotabato and Davao del Sur provinces, kind hearted men and women… Read More

From the Mail: China’s Mindanao quake aid

November 7, 2019, 11:50 am

By Ferdie Pasion JUST three days after the 6.6-magnitude 29 October Tulunan, Cotabato earthquake the Chinese Embassy in Manila announced its donation of 3 million RMB (or about PHP22 million) donation to the Philippine government to help victims of the earthquakes that have hit Mindanao this past… Read More

Ledesma: Unlike earthquakes, fates of Yoly and Leni predictable

November 6, 2019, 11:50 am

THE earth seemed to have calmed in Mindanao and rescue and relief operations are in full blast. There is an unprecedented outpouring of support and compassion that flood the many places in Cotabato and Davao del Sur provinces hit by a series of devastating temblors. But amidst the uneasy calm… Read More

From the Mail: Inherent right

November 4, 2019, 10:50 am

By Leopoldo Barrida THE state has the INHERENT RIGHT and JUST OPTION to protect and preserve its institutions, the government which is its central element, and itself for its own SURVIVAL, for its own people. Those who are undermining the state authority either by way of direct armed and… Read More

From the Mail: Du30 and China: United versus illegal drugs

October 31, 2019, 2:00 pm

By Herman Tiu Laurel  THE usual information warfare material emanating from the Western mainstream media against the Philippines found print again in one of the Philippine mainstream media outlets. In its October 9, 2019 issue the Philippine Star published a report authored by Patricia Lourdes… Read More

Ledesma: Earthquake revealed massive corruption

October 31, 2019, 1:52 pm

MOTHER nature has her way of expressing her contempt at man’s penchant for insatiable greed and corruption. The series of strong temblors that shook Mindanao revealed how contractors and government regulators disregarded building standards and quality of materials used in vital projects such as… Read More

Ledesma: Will Leni stop the drug war?

October 29, 2019, 11:36 pm

VICE President Leni Robredo should take a long vacation leave. It’s pathetic to see her being bludgeon by critics in social media and it is doubly sad because the criticism against her is true. And sadly too because she is the next in command, the second most powerful person in the country but… Read More

Ledesma: Our human frailties

October 24, 2019, 5:33 pm

THE peso and the stock market showed dramatic performance and the economy is seen to end with 6% growth. Young Filipino dabbling on science unlocked the challenged to convert noise pollution into electrical energy. Elsewhere in the globe, Egypt and Ethiopia lock horns over water that flows in the… Read More

Ledesma: Davao City tops in peace and economic growth

October 17, 2019, 2:25 pm

BUSES to replace rolling coffins salvaged and smuggled to Davao and underground cabling in city thoroughfares plus 14 insurgency free barangays in what used to be a CPP/NPA bastion -Paquibato District - are among the highlights in brief but the only-real-data-filled state of the city address of… Read More

Ledesma: Death wish, bad wish

October 9, 2019, 2:57 pm

BEWARE of what you wish and pray for. It could boomerang. Jim Paredes is so consumed with his hatred for Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, he plastered his face on Facebook angry at the man he cannot accept has at least 16-million fans who voted him to office instead of a wimp he had hoped will succeed… Read More