A business-friendly city must be friendly to the smallest

A CITY cannot genuinely call itself business-friendly if its prosperity is measured only by the number of skyscrapers rising, shopping malls expanding, and multinational corporations investing. The true measure of economic progress lies in whether the smallest entrepreneurs — the sari-sari store owner, the carinderia operator, the sidewalk food vendor, and the struggling family business — are also moving forward.

This is the challenge for Iloilo City as it celebrates its induction into the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PCCI) Hall of Fame after winning its third Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit award in 2026, following earlier victories in 2023 and 2025.

The recognition is undoubtedly a remarkable achievement. But it would mean little to ordinary Ilonggos if economic prosperity remains concentrated in the hands of those who already possess capital, connections, and opportunities.

This is precisely why Mayor Raisa Treñas’ initiative to institutionalize government support for micro and nano enterprises deserves serious attention and, more importantly, decisive implementation.

Her administration is pursuing incentives, the institutionalization of the Negosyo Development Academy, the Nano Food Truck Ordinance, and startup development initiatives. These measures seek to provide smaller entrepreneurs with opportunities to expand their businesses, improve their livelihoods, and generate employment.

The direction is encouraging. Modest enterprises constitute an indispensable part of the city’s economic life. They provide affordable goods, sustain neighborhood commerce, create livelihood opportunities, and keep money circulating within communities.

A sari-sari store may never employ hundreds of workers, but it can feed a family and help send children to school. A carinderia may never become a restaurant chain, but it can support several households. A small food vendor may never attract international investors, but every peso earned represents dignity, independence, and economic survival. Multiply these enterprises across Iloilo City’s barangays, and their collective contribution becomes impossible to ignore.

Iloilo City’s business-friendly reputation should now evolve into something more meaningful: a city where economic opportunity is not a privilege reserved for the financially powerful.

Mayor Treñas has correctly identified the need to bring grassroots entrepreneurs into the mainstream of economic progress. But the real test of leadership will be translating that recognition into policies that ordinary Ilonggos can actually feel.

The PCCI Hall of Fame distinction should not be the culmination of Iloilo City’s economic ambitions. It should mark the beginning of a more demanding mission — ensuring that the prosperity celebrated in conference halls and award ceremonies reaches the smallest businesses in the city’s neighborhoods. Development is not truly inclusive when the wealthy become wealthier while the struggling merely remain afloat.

The greatest achievement of a business-friendly city is not how many big investors it attracts, but how many small entrepreneurs it helps become successful. And if Iloilo City can transform its sari-sari stores, carinderias, food stalls, and other nano enterprises into thriving and sustainable businesses, it will have earned something far more valuable than another trophy.

It will have earned the distinction of being a city where prosperity is not merely celebrated — but genuinely shared.