ILOILO City – This southern city has once again demonstrated the power of unity and collaboration reflected in its most recent accolade as the 2024 Overall Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City (HUC) in Western Visayas.
This recognition from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 6 – a testament to the city’s commitment to responsive governance that upholds excellence for sustainable growth – was given during the Western Visayas Creativity Forum cum Competitive LGU Awards held on November 4, at the Iloilo Convention Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
Iloilo City also bagged first place as Most Competitive HUC in all five competitiveness pillars such as Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Resiliency, Infrastructure, and Innovation.
For Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, the accolade stands as proof to the city’s upholding of good governance and the strength of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), which reflect the concerted efforts of the city government, its leaders and the private sector partners to foster a vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive metropolis.
“We have achieved so much since we worked together as one team,” said Treñas.
He specifically expressed his gratitude to Iloilo City Vice Mayor and now Acting Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, members of the City Council, department heads and employees, and the private sector for their support and commitment to the city’s growth and development.
“These awards show that the city government is performing well. They inspire us to continue striving for excellence in governance and service,” said Treñas.
On behalf of the city mayor who is on medical leave, Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Office (LEDIPO) head Velma Jane Lao received the awards.
Iloilo City was also hailed as Region 6’s Most Competitive and Most Improved HUC for 2023. It was the biggest winner among local government units in the region for bagging first place in all five competitiveness pillars.
In 2022, Iloilo City also won the coveted awards, except for the pillar on Innovation where it placed second.
In the national level, from seventh place in 2022, the city leaped three notches higher in 2023 after it was named as the country’s Top 4 Overall Most Competitive HUC and Top 1 outside National Capital Region (NCR).
The city also brought home more awards after ranking No. 2 in Government Efficiency, No. 4 in both Innovation and Economic Dynamism, No. 5 in Resiliency, and No. 9 in Infrastructure.
For 2024, this southern city continues to stand out as one of the Philippines’ top HUC.
It has been recognized as the fifth Most Competitive HUC in the country and still the top city outside the NCR.
The city bested other HUCs in the country after showing a remarkable performance as number one in Government Efficiency.
Government Efficiency refers to the quality and reliability of government services and government support for effective and sustainable productive expansion.
This factor looks at government as an institution that is generally not corrupt; able to protect and enforce contracts; apply moderate and reasonable taxation and is able to regulate proactively.
The city also made it to the top list in other competitiveness pillars such as rank 5 in Innovation and Resiliency; rank 7 in Economic Dynamism; and rank 9 in Infrastructure.
The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) is one of DTI Competitiveness Bureau’s data-driven and evidence-based programs which enjoin LGUs to gather and submit data on indicators of competitiveness which is the basis for their scores and ranks.
The rankings of cities and municipalities were based on the sum of their scores on the said five pillars./PN
