Tudela town on Camotes Island would have three mayors if the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) approves a request of the Cebu Provincial Board to designate Vice Mayor Clint Maratas as acting mayor.Provincial Board (PB) Member Victor Maambong said it was important for someone to stand as an “authority figure” in the municipality. The town’s leadership is in limbo pending the resolution of an election case filed by Demetrio Granada against Mayor Rogelio Baquerfo, which is pending with the Commission on Elections (Comelec). In Monday's PB session, Board Member Agnes Magpale filed a resolution urging the Comelec to resolve the pending election case. While the resolution was unopposed, Maambong also urged the Land Bank of the Philippines, which is Tudela's depository bank and government agencies like DILG and the Commission on Audit to recognize Maratas as the acting mayor. In the absence of a clear chief executive, Tudela would have difficulty delivering basic services, said Maambong. Board Member Juan Bolo said that Maambong's floor resolution had no basis so the request was instead directed to DILG which supervises the operations of local government units. The DILG earlier issued a statement affirming Baquerfo as Tudela's duly elected mayor, which was questioned by Granada's lawyers. In view of the conflict, provincial officials said there was a need for an authority figure to function as the town's mayor. Magpale cited an instance when she was confused about who to approach for the distribution of milk products that were Tudela's share of the province's feeding program. Tudela also failed to avail of the P200,000 in financial assistance from the province’s saksak program promoting camote. “Programs of the government were held in abeyance because of the tug of war of the two contending a parties,” Magpale said. She was also worried that confusion would also affect the delivery of services in Tudela. She said that once the existing allocations are exhausted, there may be a confusion as to who among the two mayors should sign documents for the disbursement of additional funds. | 
