Ricardo “Cary” F. Lagdameo doesn’t deal in hype. He deals in hectares, high-rises, and hard numbers. As head of the Real Estate and Construction Group of Anflo Group of Companies, he is helping redraw the economic map of Mindanao—quietly, methodically, and with a distinctly entrepreneurial spark.
“I’ve always believed the biggest opportunities are the ones people underestimate,” he says, equal parts strategist and optimist.
Over the past decade, Lagdameo has steered Damosa Land, Inc., Anflo Industrial Estate, Anflo Construction Corp., and Davao Boat and Leisure Club, Inc. into a new era—one defined less by incremental growth and more by firsts.
Under his watch, Damosa Land launched Mindanao’s first agro-industrial estate, its first condominium development, and Davao’s first flexible workspace solution. It also delivered the sleek Damosa Diamond Tower—a vertical punctuation mark on the city’s evolving skyline.
Then came Agriya, the region’s first master-planned agri-tourism development. Think farmland meets forward planning. “We’re not trying to replicate Manila,” Lagdameo says. “We’re building what actually fits.”
If one project captures his tenure, it’s Anflo Industrial Estate. Ten years ago, large-scale industrial parks were scarce in Mindanao. The infrastructure conversation tilted north. Investor awareness was thin. So the team built the case themselves—roadshows, pitches, persistence.
“It wasn’t obvious at the time,” he recalls. “But we believed the fundamentals were there.”
A decade later, the estate has grown into one of the country’s flourishing industrial hubs, drawing manufacturers and exporters and generating jobs far beyond its perimeter fences. What began as a blank canvas is now a working ecosystem.
Before returning to the family enterprise, Lagdameo cut his teeth in finance. He worked in investment banking with CLSA and later with IP Ventures, focusing largely on technology investments. A graduate of Columbia University, he learned to interrogate spreadsheets the way some people read novels.
“Where’s the value? Where’s the leverage? Where’s the long-term play?” he says. “You get trained to see around corners.”
That analytical discipline now underpins everything from land acquisition to phased development. But for all the financial rigor, Lagdameo insists he’s an entrepreneur first.
“Development isn’t just construction,” he says. “It’s problem-solving.”
For him, the real work in Mindanao goes beyond pouring concrete. It’s about pushing the region up the value chain—pairing agriculture with tourism, industry with sustainability, commerce with community. It’s about challenging stale narratives with tangible results.
“If we want Mindanao to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the country,” he says, “we have to think harder. And build smarter.”
In Lagdameo’s world, progress isn’t loud. It rises—floor by floor, hectare by hectare—until one day the skyline tells a different story.
