BACOLOD City – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) declared Bacolod City as the “Most Improved Highly Urbanized City (HUC)” in Region 6 (Western Visayas) for 2020.
The award was given during the 4th Regional Competitiveness Council (RCC) Recognition Ceremony for Competitive Local Government Units (LGUs) held in Iloilo City on Dec 29, 2020.
Bacolod City likewise topped two of the four pillars (for Infrastructure and Resiliency) in the 2020 Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index (CMCI).
Accepting the awards for Bacolod were Local Investment Board Executive Director George Zulueta on behalf of Mayor Evelio Leonardia; and Executive Assistant Dr. Emiliano Sama.
The DTI-6 recognizes outstanding LGUs in the region that excel in the CMCI.
LGUs are awarded in the following classifications: 5th to 6th Class Municipalities, 3rd to 4th Class Municipalities, 1st to 2nd Class Municipalities, Component Citiies, and Highly Urbanized Cities.
It can be recalled that last December, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) came out with its Top 20 Most Competitive HUCs list, wherein Bacolod ranked 11th, besting Iloilo City and Cebu City, which placed 12th and 13th, respectively.
The Top 20 list was led by the cities of Manila, Davao, and Pasay.
Based on this list, Bacolod is now considered the “Most Competitive City in the Visayas.”
“This is a big morale booster for the fact that we continue to rank among the most competitive cities of the country despite the serious crisis we went through in the fight against COVID-19,” Leonardia said.
“This gives us valid reasons to be optimistic. When this crisis is over, we can surely put Bacolod back on track and continue the rapid growth we were enjoying before the pandemic upset the economy,” the mayor added.
In the NCC national ranking for Infrastructure, Bacolod went up from the 11th spot in 2019 to the 9th spot in 2020. For Resiliency, Bacolod moved up three places from ranking 13th in 2019 to 10th in 2020.
Bacolod ranked 13th in both Economic Dynamism and Government Efficiency.
