The Quezon City government announced on Tuesday, Oct. 3, that the city was hailed as the "Philippines' Most Competitive Local Government Unit" under the "Highly Urbanized Cities Category" of the Department of Trade and Industry's Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI).
CMCI is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (according to cmci.dti.gov.ph).
Cities and municipalities are ranked on their competitiveness based on their overall competitiveness scores on the five pillars - Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, Resiliency, and Innovation.
DTI said "Economic Dynamism" matches the output and productivity of the local economy with the local resources.
"Government Efficiency" refers to the quality and reliability of government services and government support for effective and sustainable productive expansion.
"Infrastructure" pillar refers to the physical assets that connect, expand, and sustain a locality and its surroundings to enable provision of goods and services, while "Resiliency" applies to the capacity of a locality to build systems that can absorb change and disturbance and being able to adapt to such changes.
The national agency said the "Innovation" pillar refers to the ability of a locality to harness its creative potential to improve or sustain current levels of productivity.
The local government received six awards from the DTI including the 1st Overall Most Competitive City recognition; 1st Place as Most Competitive in Innovation; 1st Place as Most Competitive in Infrastructure; 1st Place as Most Competitive in Resiliency; 2nd Place as Most Competitive in Economic Dynamism; and 1st Place as Top Intellectual Property Filers (special citation).
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte received the awards during the DTI's Philippine Creative Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Congress held in Manila Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 28.
"These awards are a testament to the commitment and dedication of the city government in crafting programs and policies for all QCitizens, including startup businesses," Belmonte said.
"We offer the recognition to all our QCitizens who continue to support and trust the city government, and who pay their taxes and dues religiously. We assure them that every centavo they pay will be properly accounted for, and will be used to finance meaningful projects for their benefit and the growth of our city,” she added.
Business Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD) head Margie Santos and Small Business Cooperatives Development and Promotions Office (SBCDPO) head Mona Yap were present during the event.