PRESIDENTIAL Assistant for Eastern Mindanao Leo Tereso Magno said Secretary Maria Belen Acosta to seek legal remedies after he replaced her as the chair of the Mindanao Development Authority.
During an interview at the Pryce Towers on May 24, Magno said Acosta can go through the legal channels in questioning the appointment order that Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed on May 13. On May 21, 2024, Magno took his oath of office before Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin.
“I just would like to say that I am respecting her right. In the same manner I have an oath na meron tayong sinumpaang tungkulin na mag umpisang mag function as the MinDA chairman,” he said.
Magno also vowed to continue implementing the programs that had started when she led MinDA. He also hopes to talk with Acosta about resolving the issue.
“I am praying that there will be a dialogue between me and Secretary Mabel. I am really praying for that for the good of the agency and for the good of Mindanao,” he said.
During a press conference in the same venue on May 24, Acosta said that she hasn’t talked to Magno in person yet and had not received any formal communications from Malacañang before being replaced.
“If there was any case that they filed against me, I could have answered because yan man kailangan mo man ng due process pero wala. Walang sinabi sa akin, walang complaint against me from Malacañang, wala ring memo from Malacañang. Bigla bigla na lang na may appointment ng ibang tao. So now, there are two secretaries in Mindanao Development Authority,” she said.
She also added that the Republic Act No. 9996 or the “Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Act of 2010” signed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2010, should be respected and not be set aside.
“Pero kapag merong mga batas na ginawa halimbawa itong Republic Act No. 9996, inilagay ang term of office at inilagay ang kung kailan siyang pwedeng tanggalin dapat po sundin kasi Republic Act po yun,” she said
