by Alex P. Vidal
“A drug is not bad. A drug is a chemical compound. The problem comes in when people who take drugs treat them like a license to behave like an asshole.” FRAN ZAPPA
There are people not happy with reports that former Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-6) Regional Director Paul Ledesma will soon regain his post.
Some of them are drug traffickers and their protectors who fear that Ledesma will again disrupt their illegal trade; drug dealers whose activities reportedly “went smoothly and uninterrupted” during Ledesma’s absence.
Ledesma’s resurrection will definitely send shivers down the spine even of the “untouchables” who have managed to elude police dragnets in the past because of their connections with police hoodlums who tipped them off during raids and serving of warrants of arrest.
As an Ilonggo, Ledesma is familiar with the operations of local drug dealers; he knows the terrain and how to deal with recalcitrant characters in the trade. Unlike his predecessors who come from other regions, and were virtually total strangers in Western Visayas, Ledesma needs no tour guide to locate the lairs of drug dealers all over Panay Island and Guimaras. He has both the resources and authority to flush drug traffickers out from their cocoon if he wants to flex his muscles and implement the full force of the law.
RELIEF
In more than two years that Ledesma was PDEA-6 chief until his relief on June 12, 2011, I have heard so many nasty stories thrown at him especially when he engaged a female teacher-journalist in a heated spat over a parking space in a Diversion Road night spot two years ago; but I also heard a lot of positive feedback in as far as his being the region’s anti-drugs czar is concerned.
There was also a three-series Youtube video that pictured him as villain and abusive person in authority. Some critics questioned his credentials and qualifications to head the powerful office. But they were nothing compared to the black propaganda launched against him by drug dealers angered by his guts and performance. Ledesma was unfazed and dispensed his job without fear and favor. Despite the furor that attended some of the blistering raids his agency had conducted on hideouts of drug traffickers and the high profile arrest of some notorious personalities, no one has accused Ledesma of irregularity or corruption.
POSITION
He actually doesn’t need a government position to eat three square meals a day since he comes from a prominent and wealthy family. Any attempt to bribe Ledesma will surely end up frustrated if the culprit will learn about his background.
A gun enthusiast and active member of gun clubs in Western Visayas, Ledesma was first recruited in the anti-illegal drugs agency by his godfather, retired police general and then PDEA chief Dionesio Santiago, in 2009.
Despite attempts in the past to discredit Ledesma (some even called him names), he always hogged headlines because he was always present in almost all the major raids conducted by his agency, something his predecessors -- Yogi Filemon Ruiz, Edgar, Layese, and Atty. Ronnie Delicana -- have failed to duplicate. Even in number of arrest and raids, the accomplishments of the trio might pale in comparison to Ledesma’s.
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WORTH
No less than PDEA Assistant Secretary Rene Orbe had noticed Ledesma’s worth in the agency when he declared on June 14, 2011 during the office’s change of command ceremony at Camp Martin Delgado in Iloilo City which “Ledesma has carved his mark in Region 6 well. His accomplishments are noteworthy.”
I’m not writing this article to praise Ledesma here. The man doesn’t know me from Adam. I’m just stating the facts objectively, and I know how to give credit where credit is due, in the same manner that I know how to criticize constructively any public official, including Ledesma, commits malfeasance or acts detrimental to the public interest. /MP
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