Certain associates of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, historically referred to using the catchphrase "Marcos cronies", benefited from their friendship with Marcos – whether in terms of legal assistance, political favors, or facilitation of business monopolies, during his administration. Marcos critics, and the local and international press began referring to these individuals as "cronies" during the latter days of the Marcos dictatorship, and the Philippine government – especially the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) – continued using the term after the ouster of Marcos in 1986.

These "cronies" were awarded government commissions, projects, and funds, many of which were later investigated for corruption, misuse of funds, and disregard of the Constitution of the Philippines. Marcos' cronies were given strategic positions both in the government and in private sectors in order for the Marcoses to seize control of the major industries of the country.

Enrile served the Marcos Administration under many positions. He was Commissioner of Customs in 1965, and rose to become Defense Minister in 1970. He resigned a year later to run unsuccessfully for the Senate, but was quickly reinstated in 1972. The Marcos administration also fabricated an ambush of Enrile's car, claiming it was perpetrated by militants. This staged act served as justification for the declaration of martial law. Enrile later revealed in a 1985 interview that the attack on his car had been faked. He later turned on Marcos when he, along with then-Vice Chief of Staff of the AFP and Chief of the Philippine Constabulary Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos (future 12th President of the Philippines) and a battalion of soldiers and officers under the Reform the Armed Forces Movement led by Gregorio Honasan, Victor Batac, and Eduardo Kapunan withdraw their support, triggering the 1986 People Power Revolution.

For the majority of the martial law period, Enrile was in charge of all the armed forces, which were responsible for many human rights abuses and summary executions. Enrile was also involved with many cases of corruption, namely:

Banana magnate Floirendo began his business career in Davao City in the 1940s, when he found it favorable to cultivate relationships with running politicians. He contributed to Marcos' 1965 and 1969 presidential campaign funds, and it was in his Davao estate where Marcos launched his 1969 presidential campaign in southern Philippines.

Under the Marcos administration, Floirendo's company Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (TADECO) leased 6,000 hectares of prime, fertile, government land and employed prison labor from the neighboring prisons. This project was formerly halted during the Macapagal Administration. It violated the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines and Philippine corporate law, which permitted only up to 1,024 land acquisition. Sen. Lorendo Tañada chaired a Blue Ribbon Committee investigation into the matter, which caused Floirendo to retreat the plan to wait for a more favorable political climate. His plan finally came into fruition after Marcos' second term.

Floirendo also served as a front for the Marcoses in purchasing international properties. With former First Lady Imelda Marcos, he purchased three condominium apartments in Olympic Tower in New York City. He purchased two expensive units at the St. James Towers in Manhattan. He purchased a $1.35 million mansion in Makiki Heights in Hawaii. The mansion, known as the Helen Knudsen estate, sits directly across the Tantoco house where the Marcoses lived in exile. He purchased the $4.5 million Lindenmere estate in Long Island New York, and a $2.5 million Beverly Hills property.

Floirendo escaped the Philippines a day before Ferdinand Marcos was exiled to Hawaii. In 1987, Floirendo turned over PHP 70 million in cash to the Presidential Commission on Good Government, as well as titles for the Lindenmere Estate, the Olympic Towers apartments, and the Makiki Heights Drive property. He admitted transferring amounts of $600,000, $2 million, and $4 million to George Hamilton, an American actor involved in the Marcos' business ties and federal fraud and racketeering cases. They were supposedly loans from Imelda Marcos, who he alleges to have ordered him these transfers. He also admitted that the Marcos-tied corporations of Ancor, Calno, Kuodo and Camelton belonged to him.