Tagbilaran City remained as the top ranked component city in Region VII and was rated no. 25 among 110 component cities in the Philippines.

Ranked no. 28 in 2014 nationwide, Tagbilaran City slipped by six notches lower in 2015 and was ranked no. 34 but climbed nine slots higher this year at no. 25 according to the annual ranking of Philippine component cities released by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC)-Philippines Thursday, July 14.

Rankings on competitiveness are based on an overall competitiveness score which is the sum of scores on three main pillars—economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure.

Tagbilaran City showed a slight improvement in the government efficiency category moving up from 51 last year to 44 this year, but still a far cry from the 6th place achievement in 2014.

Government efficiency, as defined by the NCC, refers to the quality and reliability of government service and support for effective and sustainable productive expansion.

Among its indicators are the transparency and economic scores in Local Governance Performance Management Systems, the ratio of LGU-collected tax to LGU revenue and business registration efficiency.

In the infrastructure category, Tagbilaran City moved four notches up, improving to 21 this year from 25 last year after being ranked at 62 in 2014.

As defined by the NCC, infrastructure refers to the physical building blocks that connect, expand and sustain a locality and its surroundings to enable the provision of goods and services.

It covers indicators that includes existing road networks, annual investments in infrastructure, health and education infrastructures, and availability of basic utilities.

The number of transportation vehicles, connections to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the number of Automated Teller Machines are also among the indicators.

In economic dynamism, the city’s ranking rose 3 notches higher moving up from 23 to 20.

The category is associated with activities that create stable expansion of business and industries and higher employment rate.

The NCC annual rankings are intended to help Local Government Units in evaluating performance and serve as guide in policy decisions for sustainable development. (Chito M. Visarra)