Palace: Magno’s ‘expiration of tenure’ effective immediately

Finance Undersecretary for Fiscal Policy and Monitoring Group Cielo Magno received the official document from Malacañang on Friday stating that the "expiration" of her tenure as Department of Finance official was effective immediately.

In a Facebook post with a photo of the scanned official document from Malacañang, Magno said her tenure had "expired" instead of "termination" or "resignation."

"It's not a resignation or termination. It turns out that 'expiration' is the correct term," Magno said.

"Thank you very much. It was an honor to serve the country. I will be able to sleep soundly knowing that I did my best in serving our nation and advocating for the welfare of our people," Magno added in her caption.

Magno had previously mentioned that she was "forced to resign" but did not provide any details regarding the reasons for her departure from her position.

But in a separate statement that Malacañang released early morning Friday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said that Malacañang "terminated" Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno's appointment as she was "clearly maligning" the Marcos administration.

Magno had also "constantly" raised her concerns through social media instead of working with her government colleagues to address them, according to Bersamin.

"While we support anyone's right to free speech, it would be counterintuitive to have someone be part of the administration who was clearly set on maligning it to begin with," he stressed.

Bersamin wished Magno "all the best in her future endeavors moving forward."

Magno's resignation will be effective on 16 September.

Sources told DAILY TRIBUNE earlier this week on condition of anonymity that Malacañang was "monitoring" Magno's Facebook account since 1 September.

Magno had posted a demand and supply graph and the statement "I miss teaching" two days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s issuance of Executive Order No. 39 which established price limits of P41 per kilo for regular-milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice.

The post has been made public as of 7 September.

According to the fundamental economic theory being illustrated by the graph, implementing price ceilings would result in greater demand and reduced supply, ultimately causing a shortage.

Marcos' economic managers supported the rice price cap, and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno stated on Twitter that it would yield short-term effectiveness.

The Marcos administration implemented the rice price cap on 5 September. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. justified this action as essential due to the sudden price increase in rice.

In a separate Facebook post on Thursday, Magno said that she would be back to being a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics following her employment with the DOF.

"A wise man told me, if you do your job with integrity, you will be back in UPSE (University of the Philippines School of Economics) soon," Magno said.

Several reports also mentioned that Magno is "now processing" her clearance from DOF before she returns to UP.

Magno had been actively involved in advancing another significant program of the Marcos administration: restructuring the pension system for military and uniformed personnel.

Additionally, she played a leading role in the department's endeavors to predict government revenues and recommend tax reform measures.