This short clip provides a timeline of the beginning and expansion of Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc., and the subsequent construction of Antonio O. Floirendo’s empire in Mindanao. Floirendo was among the wealthiest cronies of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.
TADECO KO BAI, “TADECO History,” Youtube video, 7:06, May 16, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2IFGzOyG-0
Ricardo Manapat narrates in full detail the “infrastructure of plunder” that institutionalized cronyism and kleptocracy in Ferdinand E. Marcos’ government. Manapat’s research exposes how the state weaponized its political advantage in order to intervene in economic affairs which benefitted a select few within the dictator’s circle, at the expense of many Filipinos who toiled in poverty.
Manapat, Ricardo. Some Are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2020.
