Leaders in the region believe that the South can breathe more easily if the President accepts Anton Lagdameo’s resignation. Some Mindanao officials are wondering why Malacañang is silent on whether Lagdameo’s courtesy resignation as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s special assistant has been accepted or not. Lagdameo’s continued presence is seen as a problem, and his exit would be a small but significant reprieve from dynastic capture and the corrosive politics of oligarchic privilege. Critics say Lagdameo was never trusted in the South because he stood not as a servant of the people but as an operator for the entrenched elite. His departure would be a matter of good riddance.
Lagdameo was a top campaign donor to the President in 2022, handing over more than ₱240 million to help bankroll the latter’s victory. The optics in Philippine politics for such generosity is negative, as campaign contributions represent IOUs, and when donors end up inside Malacañang, the line between governance and payback disappears.
His critics believe that his resignation would benefit the region for several reasons: it dilutes dynastic capture, resets Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) relations, signals accountability after the polls, and dismantles political “toll roads” which foster public distrust.
Lagdameo is part of the Floirendo-TADECO dynasty, a name forever linked to the controversial 5,000-hectare Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) land lease in Davao del Norte. The TADECO-BuCor deal turned prison land into private banana plantations and led to the graft conviction of Lagdameo’s uncle, Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr.
In 2024-2025, powerful Maguindanao leaders accused Lagdameo of political meddling and even of diverting resources meant for the Moro communities and the Bangsamoro people. The Palace shake-up told its own story, with courtesy resignations demanded across the Cabinet and among senior aides, including Lagdameo.
Leaders in the region believe that the South can breathe more easily if the President accepts Lagdameo’s resignation. His resignation matters because it pries open a door that has been long shut. The South deserves leaders not tied to banana plantations, prison-farm deals, or P240-million campaign IOUs. Should Lagdameo’s resignation be accepted, this will not necessarily put away Mindanao’s troubles, but it will remove one of the persons who embodies those problems.
