The province of Bulacan retained its rank as the 10th Most Competitive Province in the country after the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Region 3 announced the Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index 2022 Rankings during the Central Luzon Regional Competitiveness Summit held on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at The Orchidarium, Orchid Gardens, San Juan, City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
The provincial rankings are based on population and income weighted average of the overall scores of cities and municipalities under a province while rankings of cities and municipalities are based on the sum of their scores on four pillars: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency.
Bulacan garnered a score of 33.13 while the other nine provinces scored as follows: Rizal (40.23), Cavite (37.68), Davao Del Norte (37.42), Laguna (37.21), Camiguin (36.58), Basilan (36.00), Davao Del Sur (34.52), Bataan (33.85), and South Cotabato (33.15).
On behalf of Governor Daniel R. Fernando, Vice Governor Alexis C. Castro, together with the heads and staff of the Provincial Administrator’s Office, Provincial Cooperative and Enterprise Development Office, Provincial Planning and Development Office and DTI-Bulacan, received the award.
The Municipality of Baliwag ranked second with a score of 41.44 for the Overall Most Competitive Municipality among 1st to 2nd class municipalities, coming in 4th for both resiliency and government efficiency pillars, coming in 6th for infrastructure, 7th for innovation, and 8th for economic dynamism; while the Municipality of Santa Maria ranked No. 5 for economic dynamism and No. 9 for infrastructure.
Baliwag Mayor Ferdie Estrella and Santa Maria Vice Mayor Pablo L. Juan represented their respective LGUs in receiving the award.