Leo Tudela
COMMONWEALTH Ports Authority Executive Director Leo B. Tudela has resigned, effective Dec. 20, 2024.
Tudela, who became CPA executive director in November 2023, submitted his resignation to CPA Board Chair Ramon A. Tebuteb on Nov. 19, 2024, more than a month after former board chair, Jose C. Ayuyu, resigned from the board following the election of a new board leadership.
In a WhatsApp interview, Tudela said, “I can’t comment on this personal matter as this is with my attorney.”
Tudela’s resignation was the first item in the correspondence portion of the board meeting’s agenda on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, together with Tebuteb’s acknowledgment letter to Tudela.
Tudela said he provided each board member with a copy of his resignation letter on Friday.
In an interview, board member Antonio Cabrera said if that was Tudela’s decision, “I cannot stop him. I will abide by it.”
But he said “it’s so bad” that it is happening at this time, “because to look for a new executive director is going to take up a lot of their time again.”
Regarding Tudela’s reason for resigning, Cabrera said he will need to discuss it with the other board members to understand what transpired.
Frederick A. Pangelinan has been the acting executive director since Tudela submitted his 30-day notice of resignation.
Army veteran
A retired U.S. Army soldier, Tudela earned a degree in sociology with a minor in business administration from California State University, followed by graduate studies in public administration.
He also completed a Senior Executive International Business Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After joining the U.S. Postal Service in 1967, Tudela rose to the position of area manager in the early 1990s, overseeing operations, policy, and customer service for 97,000 employees in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Before he retired in 2018, he was the U.S. Postal Service director for Asia-Pacific global business. He was based in Washington, D.C. and was also the postal ambassador to the Freely Associated States.
