DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/21 May) – Leo Tereso Abellera Magno took his oath as the new chair of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) on Tuesday morning in Malacanang, replacing Ma. Belen Sunga-Acosta, whose six-year term is supposed to end in January 2028.
The night before Magno took his oath before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Acosta issued a statement declaring that the position of MinDA chair is “not officially vacant” so “a replacement is not warranted.”
Magno was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. as MinDA chair on May 13. This is his third appointment from Marcos. In November 2022, he was appointed Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao with the rank of Secretary, and in July 2023, he was named Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Southern Mindanao.
MindaNews sent Magno another set of questions on Tuesday, including when he will report to the MinDA office here but he has not responded as of 9 p.m.
The MinDA chair is appointed by the President and holds a Cabinet rank. The chair is also the Philippine Senior Official for BIMP-EAGA and ex officio member of the Board of the National Economic Development Authority and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority Board.
Established through Republic Act 9996 in 2010, MinDA is tasked to “promote, coordinate and facilitate the active and extensive participation of all sectors to effect the socioeconomic development of Mindanao.”
Magno’s oath-taking Tuesday ends nearly two years of speculations he would take over as MinDA chair. But Malacanang has yet to cite the cause for Acosta’s removal from office.
“No explanation pa rin re cause for removal,” Acosta told MindaNews at 7:06 pm. Tuesday. She said she would still report to work on Wednesday.
RA 9996 states that the chair has a fixed term of six years “unless removed for cause.”
Acosta, a former six-term councilor and television news anchor, and former co-anchor of then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in his Sunday television program in Davao City, was appointed MinDA chair by outgoing President Duterte on January 6, 2022. She took hear oath on January 11.
In a statement, then acting Presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said: “The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed on January 6, 2022, the appointment of Maria Belen Sunga Acosta as Chairperson of Mindanao Development Authority for a term of six years.”
Acosta told MindaNews Monday noon that she had not received an official communication from Malacanang about her supposed removal. Asked in the afternoon, she said she would issue a statement which she posted at 8:29 p.m. Monday on the social media page of the MinDA Secretary.
Acosta said the chair’s post was “not officially vacant.”
MindaNews on Tuesday learned that at 3:35 p.m. on Monday, five hours before Acosta posted the statement, her office received a copy of the transmittal letter signed by Bersamin on May 13, 2024 and a copy of the appointment letter signed by President Marcos on the same day.
In her statement on Monday evening, Acosta said she has “no pending civil, criminal, or administrative cases and has never been convicted of any crime” to warrant her removal from office.
She also said she has been “recognized by various agencies and organizations for good governance and exemplary brand of public service.”
She vowed to “continue to diligently and consistently perform her mandate with regularity and strong commitment for the integrated development of Mindanao” and as the Philippine Signing Minister for Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) since she assumed post on January 11, 2022.
Acosta stressed that consistency in the enforcement of the MinDA law “is vital to the stability of safeguarding the gains of peace and development in Mindanao.”
She called on “Mindanawons and all Filipino peace-loving defenders of democracy” to uphold the spirit and intent of the law that created MinDA. “It should not be taken lightly, or arbitrarily set aside, or diminished, or used for purposes other than what the law intended,” she said.
Acosta did not reply to MindaNews’ question if she would contest Magno’s appointment.
Magno is the sixth MinDA chair since 2010.
The first MinDA chair was lawyer Jesus Dureza, who had served in various positions in the Arroyo administration from 2001 to 2010. He served as MinDA chair for only six months after writing then President Benigno Simeon Aquino III that he will “voluntarily relinquish the position upon the assumption of the new Chair of your choice” to “ensure a smooth and seamless transition and avoid any hiatus in the Authority’s operations.”
Dureza was succeeded by Luwalhati Antonino (2010 to 2016).
When Duterte took over as President in 2016, he named Abul Khayr Alonto as MinDA chair. Alonto took over in September 2016 but he passed away on May 9, 2022.
Alonto was succeeded by former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol who served from August 14, 2019 to October 4, 2021 when he resigned to run for Senator.
Nathaniel Dalumpines was named OIC MinDA chair after Alonto’s death until Pinol was appointed MinDA chair. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
