Photo credit: SAP

In the latest episode of the BBM Podcast, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. boldly declared that government officials, regardless of personal ties, will be held accountable if they fail to deliver. “Kahit kaibigan kita, mahal kita... pero hindi mo nagagawa ‘yung trabaho,” he said.

Tough words and they’d be convincing, if only the President practiced what he preached.

Because if accountability is truly the new order of the day, then what happens now to Anton Lagdameo?

Lagdameo, the Special Assistant to the President (SAP), is not your average Cabinet official. He is, by Marcos’s own admission, his best friend.

A man so close that insiders describe him as having unmatched access to the Chief Executive.

Yet, when it comes to performance review, one must ask: Is Anton even being evaluated like the rest?

This is not about friendship. It is about fairness. Especially after the President made a similar grand promise in the first episode of his podcast months ago, hinting at a major Cabinet “revamp” following the midterm setback.

The public waited. A reshuffle seemed imminent.

What followed? Nothing. No firings, no shake-ups. The “revamp” turned out to be a "dud." A press release with no execution.

Now, the Palace is offering “quarterly performance evaluations.” Promising again that everyone is being assessed.

But is everyone really?

In Mindanao, a known bailiwick of incumbent presidents during midterms, BBM’s political coalition suffered heavy losses.

Local power blocs that delivered landslide victories in 2007, 2013, 2019 and 2022 suddenly found themselves sidelined.

Regional leaders from Regions 10, 11, 12, Caraga and BARMM have since voiced concern, some publicly, others in hushed tones, about the lack of coordination and support.

At the center of the quiet storm is the name of Lagdameo.

It’s worth noting that prior to the elections, SAP Lagdameo met with key politicians from the Visayas and Mindanao, hoping to “signal a united front for the administration’s slate.”

It was meant to project strength. Instead, the results told a different story: Alyansa was wiped out in nearly every major race across Regions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Caraga and BARMM. Whatever was being built, it collapsed on election day.

Now, who should be held accountable?

Multiple politicians and organizers claim they received little to no strategic guidance during the campaign.

Some say their messages and requests were unanswered. Promises, they claim, went undelivered. Instead, they were left to fend for themselves.

Nowhere was this more pronounced than in Davao del Norte, Lagdameo’s own home province.

The “Duterten +2” slate, supported by Vice President Sara Duterte, swept the province. Not a single candidate from the Marcos-backed “Alyansa” cracked the Top 12 in the senatorial slate.

The only Marcos-aligned win was JM Lagdameo, Anton’s brother, who reclaimed Anton's old congressional seat in the 2nd District. That’s not a government victory. That’s a family hold.

If this were any other Cabinet official who oversaw or was perceived to influence electoral coordination and then failed to deliver, the consequences would be swift.

But SAP Lagdameo remains, untouched, unchallenged, and unaccountable.

This is what fuels whispers in political and business circles alike. When power and discretion converge in one office, expectations rise and so do murmurs.

Lobbyists, local leaders, and even Cabinet colleagues often speak in code when referencing where the real decision-making power lies.

One name keeps surfacing in these whispered conversations, not shouted in public halls, but murmured in backrooms and private calls.

The name isn’t printed, but it doesn’t need to be. Everyone already knows who.

Let’s be clear: these are perceptions, not proven facts.

But in politics, perception often is reality. The perception that one official, no matter how powerful or well-connected, is beyond review creates a chilling effect on public trust.

Even former TESDA Director General and ex-Governor Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu, once a BBM cabinet member himself, publicly voiced concern.

In a widely circulated video, he asked: “What is your real interest in BARMM, SAP Anton?”

The tone of frustration echoed across a region that had gone all-in for BBM in 2022, only to feel abandoned in 2025.

The irony is hard to ignore. The President’s podcast is titled “Accountability”, yet those closest to him appear exempt.

If Lagdameo played a role in campaign oversight, then the results in Mindanao speak for themselves.

If he did not, then why was the SAP, with so much institutional power, so absent at a critical political moment?

The more this silence persists, the more the BBM coalition erodes, especially in Mindanao.

The more loyalists and local allies begin to ask: Who exactly is the President listening to and at what cost?

Mr. President, the people are watching. They are hungry, they are poor, and they are tired of optics. What they want is action. What they need is leadership. What they demand is fairness.

When you visited the San Juanico Bridge and gave direct instructions to solve a long neglected infrastructure problem, that was leadership. That was the right thing to do. More of that, less of the drama.

Mr. President, wika nga ng matatanda: kahit mahal mo, at kahit BFF mo pa, kung nakakasama na sa’yo, bitawan mo.
Sapagkat ang tunay mong dapat mahalin ay ang 110 milyong mga Pilipino.

The message of accountability was the right one. But without follow-through, it’s just another podcast episode, soon forgotten.

Trust is earned, Mr. President. This is your moment to show that no one, not even your best friend, is above the Filipino people.

Because if even that lesson is ignored, then, for this presidency, 2028 may already be over.

Ed Javier

Ed Javier is a veteran communicator with over 34 years of professional experience both in the private and public sectors. He is also an entrepreneur, political analyst, newspaper columnist, broadcast and on-line journalist.