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Cebu City, Philippines ? Tudela Vice Mayor Clint Maratas cannot take over as mayor of the troubled Cebu municipality with two people fighting over the post, the Department of Interior and Local Governments in Central Visayas (DILG-7) said Monday.
DILG-7 legal chief Danilo Almendras made the clarification after the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) asked the agency to designate Maratas as acting mayor while political rivals Rogelio Baquerfo and Demetrio Granada resolve their dispute over the post.
The board said the dispute has affected the delivery of services in Tudela, northeast of Cebu mainland.
However, Almendras said a vice mayor could not be designated as acting mayor unless a vacancy of the mayorship exists.
The town's leadership remains in question pending the resolution of an election case filed by Granada against Baquerfo before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Almendras said under the law, a vice mayor assumes the mayoralty position if the mayor goes on leave, dies or is removed from office for due cause. He urged both Granada and Baquerfo to file their leaves to avoid hampering basic services.
Last week, PB Board Member Agnes Magpale filed a resolution urging the Comelec to resolve the pending election case. /Correspondent Chris Ligan
