Angeles is 15th most competitive city in PH

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/2015/07/19/angeles-15th-most-competitive-city-ph-419783
• Sunday, July 19, 2015

By Ian Ocampo Flora

ANGELES CITY -- This highly-urbanized city was ranked as 15th most competitive in the Philippines based on the 2015 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) released by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) last week.

Cities and municipalities were ranked on three pillars – economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure. With the objective to accurately rank the locality’s competitiveness, LGUs were classified according to four categories: 3rd to 6th Class Municipalities, 1st to 2nd Class Municipalities, Component Cities, and Highly Urbanized Cities.

Out of the 34 highly urbanized cities in the Philippines, Angeles ranked 18th. The city also ranked first among cities in Central Luzon.

“Going against major metropolitan areas like Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao with annual budgets reaching P20-30 billion is tough competition – but Angeles proved that it can stand toe-to-toe with these major cities, placing ninth best in government efficiency and 20th for infrastructure development.” said Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, who attended the 3rd Regional Competitiveness Summit held on July 16 in Pasay City.

Angeles also scored 23rd overall in Economic Efficiency, which is a huge jump from rank 80 in 2014.

This year, the index covered 142 Cities and 978 Municipalities out of a total of 1,634 localities, or a 68 percent national coverage versus only 17 percent coverage in the first year of the program (2013), and 33 percent in the second year (2014).

“The data shows that Angeles has stood its ground against several high-income cities – but we have to stay competitive. This means that we need to catch up and update our services, including full computerization of our systems. Otherwise, we might find ourselves in the lower rung next year.” the mayor said.

Pamintuan lauded the efforts of the local government unit in making Angeles City one of the most competitive cities in the country, even besting other cities in Metro Manila such as Pasay, Pasig, Marikina and Las Piñas.

Olongapo City, the only other highly urbanized city in Central Luzon, ranked 65th overall. The City of San Fernando, Pampanga, on the other hand, ranked 25th overall, and is the second best component city in the country.

The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index is a program which encourages LGUs to gather and voluntarily submit data which are used to measure their performance on three pillars anchored on global standards: economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure.

The data submitted by the local government units, through the assistance of a partner academe and the Regional Competitiveness Committees, is used for the final scoring and ranking.

This program is conducted by the NCC, aligned with the goal to improve the country’s overall competitiveness, through collaborative efforts between the national and local government agencies, and the public and private sectors.