WINNER. Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia (center) holds the plaque for being the third Most Improved Local Government Unit in the highly-urbanized cities category of the 2018 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index during a ceremony held in Manila on Thursday (August 16, 2018). Also in the photo are National Competitiveness Council co-chair Guillermo Luz (3rd from right), Rep. Greg Gasataya (2nd from right), Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran (3rd from (left), Councilors Cindy Rojas (right), Em Ang (2nd from left), and Bartolome Orola. (Contributed Photo)
BACOLOD CITY -- The City of Bacolod has been ranked the third Most Improved Local Government Unit (LGU) in the highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) category of the 2018 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index.
Bacolod, which moved up to eighth from the 20th spot last year in the Overall Most Competitive HUCs list, was number one among the HUCs in the Visayas.
Cebu was the only other Visayan city that made it to the Top 10. It came behind Bacolod, placing ninth.
This year’s ranking was announced by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) during the 6th Competitiveness Summit and Awards held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila on Thursday.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who received the award along with other city officials, said the recognition is a big inspiration for Bacolod that would encourage his administration to do more.
“For all these, our city officials are inspired to even do better to bring the city to greater heights and are appealing to all Bacolodnons to ride on this growth momentum,” Leonardia added.
Others in the Top 10 most competitive HUCs are: 1 -- Quezon; 2 -- Manila; 3 -- Pasay; 4 -- Davao; 5 -- Cagayan de Oro; 6 -- Makati; 7-- Pasig; and 10 -- Muntinlupa.
The ranking was based on the sum of the scores in the “Four Pillars” -- Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency.
In the 2018 ranking, Bacolod improved in all four pillars from its 2017 ranking: Economic Dynamism, from No. 20 to No. 9; Government Efficiency, No. 22 to No. 15; Infrastructure, No. 15 to No. 6; and Resiliency, No. 19 to No. 10.
Awards were also given to LGUs in three other categories: third- to sixth-class municipalities, first- to second-class municipalities, and component cities.
NCC co-chair Guillermo Luz awarded the plaque to Leonardia, who was joined by Bacolod City Lone District Rep. Greg Gasataya, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, Councilors Cindy Rojas, Em Ang, and Bartolome Orola.
Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go was the guest speaker of the event that was also graced by New Zealand Ambassador David Strachan and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez. (PNA)
