DAVAO CITY—A former councilor here has been tapped to replace former Secretary Emmanuel Piñol of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), who cut short his term to run for a senatorial slot in this year’s elections.
President Duterte appointed on January 6 former Davao City First District Councilor Ma. Belen “Mabel” Sunga-Acosta as the new chairperson of MinDA for the next six years.
She is the second woman to hold the highest post of this government’s socioeconomic planning agency for the entire Mindanao with a Cabinet-level rank.
A MinDA statement said Acosta, as the new MinDA chairperson, would coordinate, harmonize, and integrate various socioeconomic development efforts for Mindanao with inter-regional, Mindanao-wide, and sub-regional impact.
Acosta would also serve as the Philippine signing minister in the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga). This is due to the mandate of MinDA as the permanent Philippine Coordinating Office for (BIMP-Eaga) under Republic Act 9996.
Prior to her appointment, Acosta was a city councilor in the years 2001-2010 and 2013–2022. She is Career Executive Service Eligible.
She was named Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Kabalikat Awardee in 2008. She chaired the Davao City Council’s Committee of Peace and Public Safety and the Committee of Education, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture. She served as chairman of the Board of Advisers of Bantay Bata 163.
The Philippine Councilors League named her one of The Outstanding Councilors of the Philippines (TOCP) for 2009 during the Philippine Councilors League 2010 End-Term National Assembly.
The MinDA said Secretary Acosta “is also a prominent radio and TV anchor and a dedicated advocate of community sustainable development, good governance, and equitable access to education, children welfare, peace and security, active youth involvement through sports, women empowerment, and environmental protection among others.” She hosted the public affairs TV program in TV 4 Davao called “Gikan Sa Masa, Para sa Masa” with then Davao City Mayor and now Philippine President Duterte.
She also had a radio segment on DXAB 1296 dubbed as “Mabel At Your Service,” which aired from 2001-2009.
“She optimized the use of these media platforms for meaningful interactions in public service being a graduate of AB Communication Major in Broadcast Communication and a Master’s Degree in Development Management,” it added.
Acosta is an alumna of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the US State Department, which provided an avenue to discuss global and local issues and build cooperation and goodwill with other counterparts. She also served as the national leader of the Philippine Delegation at 39th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) 2012, which was part of the cooperation between Japan and the Asean countries to foster diplomatic and cultural understanding.