“‹The Dipolog City government has once again been named “Most Competitive Component City” in the Zamboanga Peninsula Region. The city scored the highest points in both infrastructure and government efficiency.
Mayor Darel Dexter Uy was on hand to accept the accolade last week from the Regional Competitiveness Committee of the Department of Trade and Industry during the ZamPen Barangay Negoyso Summit and the annual Zamboanga Peninsula Exposition.
The events were held at the LM Metro Hotel Convention Center in Zamboanga City. “The latest award received by the City of Dipolog recognizes the performance of our local government in improving our overall competiveness score in this year’s Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI),” said Mayor Uy.
“This is the fourth year that Dipolog was adjudged as the best of the best in Region 9 in terms of competitiveness.” The CMCI is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities. Created by the National Competitiveness Council, the rankings are based on the overall competitiveness score, which is the sum of the main pillars which pool data from several sub-indicators. These main pillars are economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure, and resiliency.
Scores are determined by the value of the actual data as well as the competitiveness of the submitted data. The level of competitiveness of the city or municipality is dependent on how high the score it obtains.
This framework was adopted from a system that was developed by Michael Porter, the renowned university professor of the Harvard Business School.
Famous for his theories on economics and business strategy, Porter’s framework is also used in a number of global surveys on competitiveness. The City of Dipolog was also recognized as the “Most Improved LGU,” having achieved a 7-match performance improvement in the national competitiveness ranking. Its LGU also placed second in the regional ranking in two other pillars, Economic Dynamism and Resiliency.
Dubbed as the gateway to Western Mindanao, Dipolog City is situated in the northwestern area of Zamboanga del Norte. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the city’s population as of 2015 stood at 130,759.
A survey conducted in 2006 by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) revealed that Dipolog is the wealthiest city per capita in the Zamboanga Peninsula. Its economy is driven by agriculture, particularly fishing and livestock production.
Mayor Uy expressed jubilation over the awards his LGU received. “We thank God for all the blessings of our beloved City. Let us continue to be united in working for a better Dipolog and in pursuing an excellent quality of life for everyone,” he said.
