4 cities outside NCR join PH’s most competitive

FILE: Aerial view of Davao (Photo By slb808501, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — The cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and Cebu are among the 10 most competitive highly-urbanized cities in the Philippines today, according to an annual survey.

The Cities and Municipalities Index (CMCI) 2018 showed that the number of cities outside Metro Manila to attain this status increased to four from only two last year, which only included Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

Quezon City retained the top spot, a distinction it has held for three consecutive years now. Manila likewise remained on the second spot, while Davao City was dislodged by Pasay City for the third place. Davao City has slipped to the fourth spot.

Completing the top 10 for the most competitive highly-urbanized cities in the country are Cagayan de Oro at fifth place, Makati at sixth, Pasig at seventh, Bacolod at eighth, Cebu at ninth, and Muntinlupa at tenth.

The CMCI measures the competitiveness of a local government in terms of four pillars: economic dynamism, or the activities that create stable expansion of business and industries and higher job creation; government efficiency, or the quality and reliability of government services and support for effective and sustainable productive expansion; infrastructure, or the physical building blocks of a locality that enable the provision of goods and services; and resiliency, or the capacity of a locality to facilitate industries and raise productivity despite the shocks and stresses it encounters.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said this year’s CMCI covers 1,508 local government units (LGUs) nationwide. “I want to say that as stewards of local governance, I challenge all our local chief executives to reinvent the ways of delivering government service,” Lopez said.

“I urge all the LGUs to level up the competitiveness of your localities, so that you can attract more investments and create more jobs for the Filipino people. All these efforts are leading us into the right direction, towards a prosperous Philippines where our people can enjoy a better quality of life,” he added.

Meanwhile, CMCI 2018 named Rizal as the most competitive province in the country; Legazpi, Albay as most competitive component city; and Cainta as the most competitive municipality.

The CMCI 2018 also showed that Iloilo City is the most improved highly-urbanized city in the survey, which leapfrogged to rank 11 from rank 32 last year.