Tagum City is the next urban hub the entire Philippines should keep an eye on.
This was one bold statement left by the City of Palms in the 5th Regional Competitiveness Summit after surprising the crowd of local government officials and dignitaries with its unforeseen 3rd spot landing in the overall ranking of Most Competitive Cities in the country.
The Summit, which was held in Manila last August 16, 2017, saw the rise of Tagum City from 9th spot last year to 3rd in the overall rank of the competitiveness index, besting other 109 component cities nationwide.
This quantum leap was credited to Tagum’s sweeping win in the pillars of Infrastructure Development and Resiliency, having obtained 2nd and 4th spot, respectively. The city also landed in the 17th spot for Economic Dynamism and ranked 24th for Government Efficiency.
Tagum City is the only component city in Davao Region and among the two component cities based in Mindanao to be included in the top 10 spots of the prestigious ranking.
With this impressive verdict, Mayor Allan Rellon is bullish Tagum will still be able to retain or improve its ranking next year, especially that more multi-million projects are on the pipeline and ready for implementation. The programs for the Tagumenyo public will also be enhanced to have the widest coverage possible, said the local chief executive.
Notably, Tagum City’s ranking has significantly contributed to the province of Davao del Norte to place 7th as Most Competitive Province in the country.
The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index is an annual ranking developed by National Competitiveness Council (NCC) through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCC) with the support of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Globe Telecom.
This year’s top 10 component cities are the following, arranged according to ranking: Antipolo, Naga, Tagum, San Fernando, Legazpi, Bacoor, Biñan, Cotabato and Dasmariñas. Roy Banias/ CIO Tagum
