Tagbilaran City retains its spot as the Most Competitive Component City in the entire Visayas based on the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) 2020 rankings.
This report was relayed to The Bohol Tribune by the City Media Bureau, with the latter stating that the rankings were released during the 8th Regional Competitiveness virtual summit on December 16, 2020.
On the other hand, Bohol’s lone city is the 18th most competitive city in the entire country, out of 112 component cities in the Philippines.
Antipolo City took the title of Most Competitive Component City in the Philippines, followed by Calamba City as the 2nd placer, and Cavite City landing 3rd in the ranking.
Local government units (LGU) in the country were ranked based on four (4) convergent categories or pillars namely: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, and resilience.
The ranking of Tagbilaran City in the four categories went several notches higher this year compared to last year’s performance, the same report says.
For the category on economic dynamism, Tagbilaran City was ranked 34th in 2019, but this year, the city climbed to the 18th place. a big leap for that matter.
In the category of infrastructure, the city ranked 17th last year but improved this year as it occupies the 12th place overall in 2020.
In the category on resilience, the city, in 2019, ranked 35th and this year, the city’s ranking is 27th.
Furthermore, in terms of government efficiency, the city ranked 35th in 2019. The city’s ranking went up to 30th place this 2020.
City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II thanked all the department heads for their hard work and dedication that enabled the city to maintain its spot as the Most Competitive Component City in the Visayas.
“This achievement is the result of the collective efforts of the City Government. The sound fiscal management of the City has also been a game-changer for Tagbilaran City,” the mayor added.
The city’s local executive thanked the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) for the award and said that this recognition is a testament of the focus and commitment of the City Government to deliver relevant public service.
The United States Agency for International Development-Sustaining Urban Resilience for Growth and Equity’s (USAID-SURGE) project through its coordinator, Dr. Rosalinda Paredes, helped in organizing the data capture and monitoring team of Tagbilaran City.
The City Media Bureau report also bares that the team was tasked to collect information for the indicators under the four (4) categories. Jeanette Busano of the City Planning and Development Office served as the over-all coordinator of the data-gathering and monitoring, in close coordination with Jude Guieb of the Department of Trade and Industry.
The economic dynamism data were provided by Gilbert Trajano from the City Treasurer’s Office and Bebiano Inting from the Local Investment Office, as assisted by Hubert Inas from the City Accounting Department, Maximo Gida from the City Budget Office and Shayne Beniga from the Human Resources Department.
Meanwhile, the data for the government efficiency category were furnished by Glenda Maniwang from the City Economic Enterprise Office, assisted by Fe Almine from the City Assessor Office, Mario Lloyd Gutierrez from the Sangguniang Panlungsod, and Junicel Mancha from the Department of Education Tagbilaran city division.
Moreover, pieces of information that were sent to the NCC for the infrastructure category were gathered by City Engineer Teodoro Estoque, assisted by Asuncion Epe and Engr. Gina Inting from the City Engineering Office, together with Hazel Dos Pueblos from the City Tourism Office.
Lastly, the data for the resilience category were provided by Airah Balatayo from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
The NCC aims to promote a more competitive Philippines and in still a culture of excellence, through public-private sector collaboration as means to reduce poverty incidence through inclusive growth.
Cities and municipalities are ranked on their competitiveness based on an overall competitiveness score.
Scores are determined by the values of the actual data, as well as the completeness of the submitted data by LGU.