Opinion and Commentary
Ledesma: Lessons learned in 365 days
July 5, 2017, 11:39 am
The first 365 days of Rodrigo R. Duterte as President is not as bad as the six years of Benigno S. Aquino III presidency. This is my answer to friends and readers who had been prodding me to give my assessment of how the Duterte administration performed in the first year of incumbency. Let me… Read More
Ledesma: Comic relief
June 27, 2017, 6:05 pm
There’s a comic relief and there are disgusting and contemptible displays of “out of tune” reactions that emerged from the government’s war against ISIS elements and homegrown Mautes terrorists. And there too is that one shining moment in this difficult and challenging time… Finance… Read More
Ledesma: Solutions
June 25, 2017, 6:06 pm
For several days now, we have been preoccupied with the hellish state in Marawi. The beautiful Islamic City abandoned by its residents who were stunned by the macabre of events following the sudden rise of Maute terrorists which we now realize had a full backing of the dreadful ISIS. The city is… Read More
Ledesma: Missing Duterte?
June 14, 2017, 9:18 am
President Duterte disappeared from the radar screen and his absence makes the mind of Senator Trillanes wonders. The way he sounded it is even more titillating as he complains why the weary Rody cannot even wake up from his deep slumber. It’s independence day and he has to attend the flag… Read More
Ledesma: Let’s pick up the shovel
June 12, 2017, 10:41 am
The bigger challenge now looms in the horizon as the siege of Marawi comes to an end. Rebuilding the beautiful Islamic City from the rubbles of destruction and its people from the horrendous saga of fright and terror must now commence. It will take some time and the task is an arduous one. Peace… Read More
Ledesma: Addiction and Laxity
June 8, 2017, 5:37 pm
It is final and the verdict is out. Terrorism is not what killed 37 employees, gamblers and guests in Resorts World. It was the morbid fear of ISIS. A woman saw a hooded man with a rifle and the cried ISIS!. The same way Rappler in a kneejerk judgment pinned ISIS on its wall while covering the… Read More
Ledesma: The impact of Marawi siege
June 7, 2017, 9:33 am
The urban war in Marawi defines the finest moment of Muslims and Christians ties and brotherhood in the face of a ruthless aggressor that wrecked the erstwhile pristine and quiet Islamic City in the Philippines. Amidst the burst of deafening gun fires, devastations, stink of unknown corpses and… Read More
Ledesma: Peddlers of fear
May 30, 2017, 2:00 pm
I was taken aback and still cannot believe what I heard. The chief enforcer of martial law during the Marcos dictatorial regime, then Major. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, has issued a warning against abuses of the military under incumbent Pres. Rodrigo Duterte! More than 40 years had elapsed since Marcos… Read More
Ledesma: Martial Law
May 25, 2017, 12:36 pm
When you have a situation like marauding Maute terrorists taking control of the entire City of Marawi better brace yourself for the worse. If these elements were able to penetrate Marawi almost without any resistance be cautious they might have slipped through sleeping security cordons in other… Read More
Ledesma: Of Alejano and OBOR
May 16, 2017, 7:30 pm
Gary Alejano, a marionette of yet another fluke in the senate -- Antonio Trillanes -- looked pathetic trying to defend himself as well as the litany of charges he filed against Pres. Rodrigo Duterte before the Justice Committee in the House of Representatives. Alejano tried mellow drama but in the… Read More
Ledesma: Sublime paradox
May 11, 2017, 8:30 am
The critics of President Rodrigo Duterte have increased in numbers but raised the same issues that had been rehashed many times over. Political harassments, human rights violations, extra-judicial killings and befriending China, among others. Last week, Agnes Callamard, a rapporteur (reporter) of… Read More
Ledesma: Gina is Mine alone
May 9, 2017, 2:00 pm
Stonewalled in the din and rankle whipped by the rejection of the appointment of Gina Lopez as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are issues which were not brought to the fore. It is vital as it defines what DENR will be under Gina had she won the nod of the… Read More
Ledesma: I believe Gina can still fly
May 6, 2017, 2:00 pm
Gina Lopez bowed out of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in a manner and classic idiosyncrasy this time warbling the 1996 hit by R. Kelly - "I believe I can fly". The import of the song can simply mean she can do what she had thought she cannot and that she can do anything to… Read More
Ledesma: Will trust on USA last?
May 4, 2017, 2:00 pm
Survey says there are more Filipinos who trust the United States of America than China and Russia. I will not contradict this. From child to adulthood my generation and those before and after me had been conditioned that Americans are our saviors and that the chink-eyed Chinese and Japanese are… Read More
Ledesma: Changes beyond the seas
May 1, 2017, 2:00 pm
“Half-full, half-empty”. That’s how psychologists tell us about our outlook in life. This too applies with the oceans. It can be seen as waters that bridge or divides nations. The recent launch of a Ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) service between Indonesia and the Philippines bridges two nations… Read More
Ledesma: Shabby political propaganda
April 26, 2017, 2:57 pm
Jude Sabio, like Edgar Matobato and Arthur Lascañas, is an unknown lawyer. His name like the two self-confessed ‘murderers’, surfaced only when the two triggermen and Senator Antonio Trillanes and Vice President Leni Robredo surreptitiously went abroad. Trillanes and Robredo, (who still dream… Read More
Ledesma: Influential Man
April 21, 2017, 6:55 am
You cannot argue with judgment that comes from the world over. Sorry but I have to disagree with Malacanang spokesman who hinted that the votes which made Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte land on top of Time Magazine search for the Most Influential Person come from his compatriots. By the… Read More
Ledesma: Rice
April 18, 2017, 12:00 am
There seems to be no end to the squabble over whether or not we should import rice and who will be given the authority to do so. Importation of rice has always been a source of graft and corruption in the country and those who were in the helm of the National Food Authority have become filthy rich… Read More
Ledesma: TADECO
April 16, 2017, 12:00 am
What is it about the Tagum Agicultural Development Corporation that makes it different from the rest of the players in the banana industry. First we have to correct some impressions that the latter's contract with the Bureau of Corrections which is under the Department of Justice, is but a… Read More
Ledesma: A 'mandirigma' hounds PCSO
April 2, 2017, 12:00 am
Before President Rodrigo Duterte took over the helm of the national government, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) was a boon to illegal gambling operators, local government officials and top ranking policemen and some members of media. But PCSO was a bane to the Executive Department… Read More
