By DIANN IVY CALUCIN
Malabon and Quezon Cities were recognized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the 10th Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Thursday, Oct. 20.
The two cities were cited under the 2022 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), an annual ranking of the cities and municipalities in the Philippines for their outstanding performance based on their total scores in five categories - Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, Resilience, and the new award this year, Innovation.
Quezon City was once again hailed as the "Overall Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City." The city was given the same award last year.
It also placed first as most competitive in Innovation and second most competitive in the Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, infrastructure, and Resiliency categories.
QC Vice Mayor Gian Sotto attended the event on behalf of QC Mayor Joy Belmonte who went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to attend the C40 World Mayors Summit.
Also present during the event were QC Business Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD) head Ma. Margarita Santos, and City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) head Architect Pedro Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, Malabon City ranked as the second most improved highly urbanized city.
Malabon City Mayor Jeannie Sandoval received the award during the summit.
The awarded cities and municipalities underwent the deliberation process of the Competitiveness Bureau of the DTI through the organization's "Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI)" tool to determine the winners.
The CMCI is used as an evaluation tool by local government officials to assess the competitiveness of their city or municipality to identify areas for improvement.