The economic team is now almost complete, save for the Departments of Budget and Management President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. chose as his special aide, Rep. Anton Lagdameo of the Floirendo clan of Davao del Norte. Similar to President Duterte’s special aide, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go.
Just like outgoing President Duterte, who has a constant aide to run to in Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also has a special aide, Rep. Anton Lagdameo, who he refers to as a close friend since childhood and who has undertaken many projects with him.
In a streamed press conference today, a day after his proclamation, Marcos said he picked former Rep. Lagdameo (Davao de Oro) as the Special Assistant to the President.
“It’s a very sensitive and very important in a sense that we have worked, known each other since he was a child, since he was young. He knows me very well,” he added.
In his Carmen, Davao del Norte sortie on March 30, Marcos had referred to Lagdameo as someone he has worked on with on “many projects.”
Under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go took this post. And even if Go has become a lawmaker, he was still usually seen beside Duterte in events.
Lagdameo, married to actress Dawn Zulueta, was a businessman first before becoming a politician, as three-term congressmanfor the 2nd distrct of Davao del Norte. He is a member of the wealthy Floirendo clan in Southern Mindanao.
He is the grandson of ‘banana king’ Antonio Floirendo Sr., one of Ferdinand Marcos’ cronies, through the former’s daughter Linda Floirendo-Lagdameo.
As a public servant, his main focus was on rural and agricultural development, social conservatism, education and lifelong learning, tourism and sustainable development.
He finished his Bachelor of Business Administration in one of the Ivy League business schools, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1989.
In 2016, he was included in the prestigious Penn Notables [2] list, a roster of alumni, faculty and trustees of the University of Pennsylvania who served outstandingly in foreign government. He continued his education in 1998 at the University of Asia and the Pacific, earning a master's degree in Business Economics.
Before his plunge into politics, he was a credit analyst for Manufacturers Hanover Trust in Manhattan, New York from 1989-1992 and later of National Westminster Bank in New York for a year.He then became Director of Cambrick Trading Ltd. in London from 1993-1996. He returned to the Philippines and served as the Vice President of Anflo Management & Investment Corp. in Davao from 1996 until 2007.
Lagdaméo was one of the stalwarts of the Mindanao Axis and espoused numerous bills whose focus was to improve the lives of not only of the Davaoeños in his district but of the entire nation. His adeptness in sound development management and innate passion and pursuits for service translated into significant legislation bringing about pronounced progress in the province of Davao del Norte.
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