BACOLOD City – The new reclassification of Cadiz City in Negros Occidental as one of the first class component cities in the country by the Department of Finance (DOF) is a “big leap”, according to Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr.
“This is more than a prestige, a tribute to all Cadizeños who worked hard in making Cadiz truly a business-friendly community,” the mayor emphasized.
To be a first class component city, the DOF guidelines stated that a local government unit must have a consolidated annual income of at least P1.3 billion. The income combination must come from both national tax allocation (NTA) and local revenue sources.
Cadiz surpassed this basic criterion.
This year, it has more than P1.4 billion in annual income that already included the more than P116 million in local taxes.
The City Treasurer’s Office also exceeded its local revenue target by more than 48 percent, a manifestation that businesses are currently mushrooming around the city.
The city mayor then attributed Cadiz’s “big leap” to the city government’s technology-driven and people-centered policies in advocating business-friendly initiatives free from red tape.
The city’s 11-minute policy in the issuance and renewal of business permits is hailable among investors.
Escalante said there is no substitute to being friendly with all the investors that are coming and signifying to invest in Cadiz, dubbed as “The Land of Splendid Opportunities.”
Cadiz, home to a 132.5-megawatt Helios Solar Philippines, the biggest solar farm in Southeast Asia so far, is forecasted to have a dramatic increase of nearly P400 million in its NTA by next year.
With this, the mayor said they will still remain prudent in their spending.
Other component cities in Negros Occidental reclassified to first class cities were Bago and San Carlos./PN
