Bacolod City – It’s another feather on its cap as Bacolod received yet another prestigious award as the Most Competitive Local Government Unit in Western Visayas.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the new achievement by the city was announced earlier this week, adding that it is a very positive way to cap the year 2021 and usher in a more vibrant and dynamic Bacolod economy in 2022.
Bacolod topped three of four pillars of the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index set by the Department of Trade and Industry to bring home the award.
The city government was also adjudged Most Competitive City for the entire Visayas in 2019 by the DTI.
The CMCI is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.
Bacolod Investment Board Executive Director George Zulueta and Local Economic and Investment Promotions Officer-Designate Jonah Javier received the awards at the 5th Regional Recognition of Most Competitive LGUs on Monday at the Park Inn Radisson in Iloilo City.
The city was ranked first in economic dynamism, infrastructure and resiliency, Javier said.
Aside from the major awards, Bacolod was also in the Top 10 ranking in the area of infrastructure in the highly-urbanized city category cited at the recently-concluded 9th Regional Competitiveness Summit.
Javier thanked Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and department heads for their continued leadership to promote the programs and innovations of the local government.
Bacolod was also named as the Most Improved Highly-Urbanized City and bagged two of the four pillars of Competitiveness in 2020 and the Most Competitive City in the Visayas in 2019, edging out other HUCs in central Philippines.
The LGU was also awarded as the Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit outside the National Capital Region (HUC Category) this year, the same accolade it won in a nationwide search by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the biggest and most prestigious business organization in the country today, in 2007.
(News & photo courtesy of Bacolod City Public Information Office)