The City of Manila under the administration of Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan has been hailed second as the "Most Competitive Highly-Urbanized City" in the 2024 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index.
Manila bagged the title among a total of 33 highly urbanized cities in the Department of Trade Industry (DTI)-sponsored awards.
In the event, Lacuna-Pangan was represented by Manila Vice Mayor John Marvin "Yul Servo" Nieto who accepted the award on behalf of the city.
Manila also bagged various awards in different categories during the awarding ceremony held at the Manila Hotel on August 23.
Nieto, who was joined by Project Development Officer IV Aimee Sarmiento in receiving the awards, said that the distinctions bestowed on the city are an acknowledgment of the good things achieved by Manila LGU under the Lacuna-Servo administration.
The mayor attributed the success to the all-out support, hard work, and dedication of all the city officials, employees, barangay leaders, stakeholders, and residents, in their respective capacities as she also cited the support of the city council under the stewardship of Nieto as its presiding officer.
The mayor said that the awards reaped by Manila will further inspire her and the entire city to do even better in the coming days.
According to Nieto, the city of Manila was also hailed as "Second Most Competitive in Government Efficiency," "Third Most Competitive in Economic Dynamism," "Fourth in Innovation and Infrastructure," "Sixth in Resiliency," and "Seventh most improved" all under the Highly Urbanized Cities category.
Manila, he added, also ranked second in "Most Intellectual Property" under the same category, with more than 4,700 intellectual properties filed.