Served as the Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro from 2006 to 2020. For 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, he led the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Inter-religious Dialogue, convening local religious leaders in inter-religious dialogues on different social issues. In the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong (Washi) and in the absence of local government leadership, he led the multi-sectoral relief effort to address the needs of calamity victims.

Archbishop Ledesma studied Philosophy and Theology at the Loyola House of Studies from 1966 to 1968 and from 1970 to 1973, respectively. He attained his Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the United States, completing his doctorate in Development in 1980.