OPINION
Ed Javier
How Anton Lagdameo's Failure Cost BBM The Senate And Malacanang's Selective Accountability
Photo credit: OSAP
Two months ago, I wrote about how Anton Lagdameo’s missteps weakened President Marcos Jr. The events of last week proved the point.
Lagdameo was tasked to deliver the Senate for the President in the May 2025 elections by securing enough winning candidates to give Malacañang control.
Instead, he delivered defeat and that failure came back to haunt Malacañang.
The Senate’s 19–4 vote to archive the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was not just predictable, it was a political autopsy.
It confirmed what insiders have whispered since the midterms, BBM no longer controls the Senate, and perhaps never did.
The Supreme Court had ruled the impeachment unconstitutional, citing the Constitution’s one impeachment per year limit.
We are no legal experts, but that ruling may be binding on paper, and still ripe for a challenge under the separation of powers principle.
With enough votes, senators could have asserted their independence and gone ahead. The justices could not have stopped them.
That moment never came. Marcos did not have the numbers. The Senate quietly archived the complaint, protecting VP Sara without even a fight.
Why? Because the man tasked to deliver the numbers, Anton Lagdameo, failed.
As Special Assistant to the President, Lagdameo is more than a friend, he is the gatekeeper, strategist, and political enforcer.
Before the midterm elections, he coordinated with regional power brokers, approved alliances, and controlled resources.
Yet in Visayas and Mindanao, Alyansa backed Senate hopefuls were crushed, in almost every province from Regions 6 to 12 and in BARMM.
The rout left Marcos without a Senate firewall when it mattered most.
Even in Lagdameo’s home province, Davao del Norte, the Marcos slate was wiped out, except for Lagdameo’s own brother. A supposed national coalition ended up looking like a family reunion.
According to news reports, former Sultan Kudarat governor Suharto Mangudadatu accused Lagdameo of interference in BARMM politics and of pocketing billions of pesos intended for the development of the BARMM.
His son, Governor Pax Ali Mangudadatu, blamed Lagdameo for sowing division within the coalition. “May division sa ground at si Anton Lagdameo ang isa sa mga dahilan,” he said.
Midterms are supposed to consolidate power. Instead, Marcos emerged weaker.
That weakness was laid bare when the Senate protected VP Sara, not out of loyalty to her, but because the President had no troops to command.
If this were Japan, Lagdameo would have resigned after such a humiliating failure.
Dito sa atin, pakapalan ng mukha ang pinakamalaking puhunan para makakuha ng magandang pwesto sa pamahalaan.
After the election debacle, we were told a Cabinet revamp was coming.
What we got instead was a game of musical chairs, shuffling seats, swapping titles, and firing small fish while the big ones swim lazily around Malacañang’s pond.
If this is reform, then it is reform for the cameras.
Now, BBM talks of accountability again, in podcasts, speeches, in interviews, in the SONA. He says no one is spared, not even friends.
Poor Filipinos risk their lives in floods and landslides while political whispers swirl about powerful government officials and politicians buying billion peso properties in ultra rich gated enclaves in Makati.
True or not, such perceptions widen the gulf between the rulers and the ruled.
Will the same thing happen to the officials behind the bloated inefficient flood control projects BBM himself criticized in his last SONA?
Here we go again, big words, no follow through. When will we see the big fish held to account? If the President keeps excusing his own circle, no one will believe him.
Once, in my long career as a communicator, I asked a poor man if he still believed in government propaganda. His answer was simple and unforgettable: “Maaring mahirap po kami, pero hindi po kami tanga.”
Mr. President, the people heard your promises of accountability. They heard your threats to underperformers.
If your closest allies are beyond scrutiny, if your most powerful aide cannot be questioned, then your calls for accountability mean nothing.
Kung kaibigan mong may kapalpakan ay hindi mo kayang panagutin, paano mo kami mapapaniwala na kaya mong ipaglaban ang interes ng bayan?
Kung tunay na mahal ng isang Pangulo ang taumbayan, ipinapakita ito hindi lang sa salita at sa taped podcast, kundi sa gawa.
Kung ganyan ang “walang kaibigan kaibigan” sa Malacañang, paano pa kaya kung barkadahan at kainuman talaga ang pinag uusapan?
Lagdameo was tasked to deliver the Senate for the President in the May 2025 elections by securing enough winning candidates to give Malacañang control.
Instead, he delivered defeat and that failure came back to haunt Malacañang.
The Senate’s 19–4 vote to archive the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was not just predictable, it was a political autopsy.
It confirmed what insiders have whispered since the midterms, BBM no longer controls the Senate, and perhaps never did.
The Supreme Court had ruled the impeachment unconstitutional, citing the Constitution’s one impeachment per year limit.
We are no legal experts, but that ruling may be binding on paper, and still ripe for a challenge under the separation of powers principle.
With enough votes, senators could have asserted their independence and gone ahead. The justices could not have stopped them.
That moment never came. Marcos did not have the numbers. The Senate quietly archived the complaint, protecting VP Sara without even a fight.
Why? Because the man tasked to deliver the numbers, Anton Lagdameo, failed.
As Special Assistant to the President, Lagdameo is more than a friend, he is the gatekeeper, strategist, and political enforcer.
Before the midterm elections, he coordinated with regional power brokers, approved alliances, and controlled resources.
Yet in Visayas and Mindanao, Alyansa backed Senate hopefuls were crushed, in almost every province from Regions 6 to 12 and in BARMM.
The rout left Marcos without a Senate firewall when it mattered most.
Even in Lagdameo’s home province, Davao del Norte, the Marcos slate was wiped out, except for Lagdameo’s own brother. A supposed national coalition ended up looking like a family reunion.
According to news reports, former Sultan Kudarat governor Suharto Mangudadatu accused Lagdameo of interference in BARMM politics and of pocketing billions of pesos intended for the development of the BARMM.
His son, Governor Pax Ali Mangudadatu, blamed Lagdameo for sowing division within the coalition. “May division sa ground at si Anton Lagdameo ang isa sa mga dahilan,” he said.
Midterms are supposed to consolidate power. Instead, Marcos emerged weaker.
That weakness was laid bare when the Senate protected VP Sara, not out of loyalty to her, but because the President had no troops to command.
If this were Japan, Lagdameo would have resigned after such a humiliating failure.
Dito sa atin, pakapalan ng mukha ang pinakamalaking puhunan para makakuha ng magandang pwesto sa pamahalaan.
After the election debacle, we were told a Cabinet revamp was coming.
What we got instead was a game of musical chairs, shuffling seats, swapping titles, and firing small fish while the big ones swim lazily around Malacañang’s pond.
If this is reform, then it is reform for the cameras.
Now, BBM talks of accountability again, in podcasts, speeches, in interviews, in the SONA. He says no one is spared, not even friends.
Poor Filipinos risk their lives in floods and landslides while political whispers swirl about powerful government officials and politicians buying billion peso properties in ultra rich gated enclaves in Makati.
True or not, such perceptions widen the gulf between the rulers and the ruled.
Will the same thing happen to the officials behind the bloated inefficient flood control projects BBM himself criticized in his last SONA?
Here we go again, big words, no follow through. When will we see the big fish held to account? If the President keeps excusing his own circle, no one will believe him.
Once, in my long career as a communicator, I asked a poor man if he still believed in government propaganda. His answer was simple and unforgettable: “Maaring mahirap po kami, pero hindi po kami tanga.”
Mr. President, the people heard your promises of accountability. They heard your threats to underperformers.
If your closest allies are beyond scrutiny, if your most powerful aide cannot be questioned, then your calls for accountability mean nothing.
Kung kaibigan mong may kapalpakan ay hindi mo kayang panagutin, paano mo kami mapapaniwala na kaya mong ipaglaban ang interes ng bayan?
Kung tunay na mahal ng isang Pangulo ang taumbayan, ipinapakita ito hindi lang sa salita at sa taped podcast, kundi sa gawa.
Kung ganyan ang “walang kaibigan kaibigan” sa Malacañang, paano pa kaya kung barkadahan at kainuman talaga ang pinag uusapan?
Aug 11, 2025
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