Bacolod City has been rated the number one “most livable city” in the Philippines today, Bacolod Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson said yesterday.

Sayson cited the March-April 2008 edition of MoneySense, a magazine for international release that ranked Bacolod Number One among the top 20 most livable cities in the country.

Sayson announced this Saturday during the induction of the new officers of the Negros Press Club at the L’Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City.

“This is a feather in the cap of the present (Leonardia) administration,” Sayson said, considering that the magazine is being read internationally.

The article entitled “Best Places to Live” ranked Makati second in the list of the top 20 cities followed by Davao, Marikina, Iloilo, Las Piñas, Pasig, San Fernando, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Manila,  Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Muntinlupa, Angeles, Baguio, Lipa, Calamba, General Santos and Cebu.

The author, Heinz Bulos, explained that for the compilation of their first list of the “Best Places to Live”, they relied on two existing surveys, and these are the Philippine Human Development Report published by the Human Development Network in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, and the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.

RATING PROCESS

The process, he said, was to first get the top 30 provinces, including Metro Manila, based on the 2003 Human Development Index of the PHDR. From the 30 provinces, they identified the cities and municipalities classified by the National Statistics Office as first class in terms of income, ending up with 219 places, he added.

From the list, they considered only those in the AIM study of the most competitive cities which used seven key drivers of competitiveness – cost of doing business, dynamism of local economy, linkages and accessibility, infrastructure, human resources, responsiveness of LGUs, and quality of life, Bulos said.

However, they only focused on three – dynamism of local economy (which indicates income opportunities), infrastructure (which relates to availability of modern conveniences), and quality of life (which refers to clean, safe place to raise a family), he said.

They picked the top 20 based on their average ranking, using those three criteria, he added.

‘OVER ACHIEVER’

Meanwhile, the article “Best Places to Live” included a blog called PromdiLiving.com which described Bacolod City as an over-achiever, bagging the “Most Competitive Mid-Sized City in the Philippines” from the Asian Institute of Management, ranking high on all criteria.

It also noted that the city government was named the “Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit in the Philippines,” is a “Clean and Green Hall of Fame” awardee, and was recently declared as “Football City.”

Bacolod City has a thriving commerce and trade economy, the quality of life enviable, the cost of living affordable, is rich in history, a great place to raise children, and has warm and hospitable people, the MoneySense item also said.

The combination of a more laid-back lifestyle and modern conveniences makes Bacolod the country’s “Best Place to Live,” it also said.*CGS

back to top