Results of the 2015 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) which showed that Cebu City and Cebu province ranked third in competitiveness is welcome news indeed for those who call the Queen City of the South and the province home.
The index measures a local government’s competitiveness based on economic dynamism, infrastructure and governance.
Based on this criteria, Cebu City is third only to Manila—the capital where most of the national government offices are – and Makati City, the country’s financial center.
That should make incumbent Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama more than just upbeat as he winds up his second term and seeks reelection, looking forward to an annual windfall from the South Road Properties (SRP) to back up his administration’s projects.
The same goes for the province which was awarded along with the towns of Argao, Dalaguete, Dumanjug, Bantayan, Malabuyoc, Medellin, Oslob and San Remigio with the Seal of Good Local Governance and received corresponding cash aid from the national government.
But even before the city and the province were given this distinction by the country’s top businesses, the fact that Metro Cebu was chosen to host several Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meetings is proof enough of its ability to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best this country has to offer.
While the CMCI ratings is a confidence booster, Cebu officials and businesses still have to listen to honest feedback from foreign investors, who make decisions based on Cebu’s actual investment climate.
Michael McCullough, managing director of KMC Mag Group Inc., was direct when he said that infrastructure remains the biggest stumbling block to Cebu’s goal to become the premier business process outsourcing destination (BPO) not only in the country but in Asia.
McCullough’s complaints about traffic, the inadequate transportation and communications system as seen in the turtle-paced Internet download/upload speed are shared not only by businesses but by the average Juan dela Cruz who also conducts transactions online.
But rather than dwell on more of the same, businesses and Metro Cebu residents should see that roads are being built and existing ones being repaired, and it’s only a few years down the road before the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system becomes fully operational.
It was during the term of former governor Lito Osmeña when Cebu’s economic growth rivaled that of Hong Kong. Cebu’s resilience was shown when it managed to rebuild from the havoc wreaked by typhoon Ruping in the ‘90s and, recently, the twin calamities in 2013: the October 15 earthquake and supertyphoon Yolanda.
It is this gung-ho, resilient spirit of its residents that Cebu LGUs should harness and tap into as it looks forward to achieving more growth in the years to come.