NCC: Daet PH’s 4th most competitive municipality (1st in Bicol)

By Rosalita B. Manlangit

DAET, Camarines Norte -- Daet is the most competitive municipality in Bicol and fourth in the country according to the “2013 Cities/Municipalities Competitiveness Index”, the first ever released by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).

The report, released on Tuesday, July 30, ranked the cities and municipalities based on 30 weighted indicators measuring economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure.

In the competitiveness index of the first class municipalities, of the 163 entries, Daet was fouth wherein San Francisco, Agusan del Sur ranked first fol lowed by Guagua, Pampanga and Carmona, Cavite while General Trias was the fifth in the rank.

Daet was ranked 1st under infrastructure indicators of the competitiveness index report in the municipalities followed by Mexico and Virac while for cities were Naga, San Fernando in Pampanga and Cagayan de Oro. The said cities and municipalities were ranked based on road network, basic utilities and registered vehicles.

Mayor Tito Sarion said that this is a good news for Daet to be the most competitive in Bicol and ranked 4th in the country because the basis were programs and projects that created economic impact, business processing and licensing systems, infrastructures, result of the community based management system, local governance financial management, seal of good housekeeping and among others.

He said that this is also in consistent with the previous citation that Daet is the least in terms of poverty incidence among towns and cities in the region in 2012 by the National Census and Statistical Board (NSCB).

“This has a good impact in the local economy and my dream now is to inspire and work hard for more cooperation for programs and projects in Daet through public-private partnership,” Sarion said.

The rankings serve as a guide for investors in choosing where to put up businesses. These will also encourage local government units (LGUs) to pursue best practices to attract more investments according to the report.

On the other hand, Cagayan de Oro bested 122 cities in terms of competitiveness followed by Iloilo, San Fernando, Pampanga, Bacolod and Koronadal. Naga City in Camarines Sur was 9th in the rank.

The National Competitiveness Council was formed last October 2006 as a Public-Private Task Force on Philippine Competitiveness by virtue of Presidential Executive Order No. 571, amended to E.O. No. 44 by the present administration to address the improvement of the country’s competitiveness from the bottom third of competitiveness rankings to the top third by 2016.

The council is chaired by Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo for the public sector and co-chaired by Mr. Guillermo M. Luz for the private sector.

This year’s Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index would also be used to compare Philippines LGUs with their Asean counterparts, report said.