No dynasty, no celebrity: Cielo Magno to take shot at Senate

MANILA, Philippines — Former Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno is positioning herself as an alternative to traditional politicians in the next general elections, proposing fiscal reforms to jump-start a slowing economy.

Magno, 48, made public last week her intent to run for the Senate in the 2028 polls, embarking on an uphill bid to build name recognition for a shot in the chamber where those elected are often from entrenched and popular political families backed by formidable campaign machinery and deep funding.

Her bold pitch is seen as a test to the appetite for change of a graft-weary public frustrated by endemic corruption and rising living costs.

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“Enough with the political antics and tricking the public,” Magno told the Inquirer on Sunday. “I see the national campaign as an opportunity to elevate the discussion on issues related to healthcare, education, agriculture, industrial policy and corruption.”

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READ: WATCH : Economist Cielo Magno shares insights as Marcos delivers Sona

200,000 followers

Magno has emerged as a key anticorruption advocate in the wake of a multibillion-peso flood control scandal, with a wide reach in social media platforms where she has more than 200,000 followers.

A self-styled “good governance advocate,” she is currently a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics, teaching institutional economics and public finance, among other subjects.

She previously led the Department of Finance’s Fiscal Policy and Monitoring Group, overseeing tax reform and legislative policy until her termination in 2023 over a Facebook post illustrating market supply and demand that implicitly criticized President Marcos’ price-cap policy on rice.

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Magno understands that her academic credentials and policy expertise alone will not be enough to cut through the political noise as she mounts a senatorial campaign for the 2028 polls.

“I am not from a dynastic family nor a celebrity. To have a fair chase in 2028, I need to introduce myself and subject myself to public scrutiny,” she said. “No surprises. There is ample time to examine and scrutinize who Cielo Magno is.”

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Economist candidate

She said she can help address an economy rife with structural weaknesses.

“The economy is the problem,” she said, pointing to the country’s import dependence and weak investor confidence. “[There’s] no energy security, high poverty incidence relative to other countries in the region, high percentage of the informal sector, weak protection programs [and] deficient human capital.”

“As an economist, I can help formulate policies that can address these problems,” she added.

She vowed to focus on expanding healthcare access, ensuring the responsible management of natural resources, and crafting targeted industrial policies to foster job creation, improve food security, and programs that could make the government be “more transparent and accountable.”

“My policy proposals will revolve around that,” she said. “Taxation and the budget are tools to address these issues.”

She could also bring to the Senate “not just technical expertise but knowledge of grassroots concerns and global trends,” touting her deep engagements with national and global civil society groups.

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“That will be a useful addition in formulating relevant and effective policies,” she said. /cb