Bato ranks 19th nationwide among 5th to 6th class municipalities and is the most competitive among the 11 towns in Catanduanes, the results of the 2024 Cities and Municipalities Index (CMCI) released recently showed.
Viga is the most improved, jumping by 168 spots from 431st in 2023 to its lofty spot at 263rd this year in the annual ranking of cities and municipalities based on economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, resiliency, and innovation.
Under Mayor Juan “Johnny” Rodulfo’s administration, Bato has rebounded from its 48th rank in the 2023 to crack the top 20 in its class of 316 towns nationwide.
Since placing 203rd in 2016, the southern municipality has the distinction among the island’s towns to be included in the top 10 twice as it ranked 6th in 2020 and 9th in 2021 before falling back to 19th in 2022 and 48th last year.
With an overall competitiveness score of 37.4816 in this year’s assessment, it scored a high of 12.1813 in the Resiliency pillar, good for 16th nationwide.
Its scores in the other pillars are as follows: Economic Dynamism, 5.3451 (47th); Government Efficiency, 9.3430 (47th); Infrastructure, 4.0617 (36th); and Innovation, 6.5505 (39th).
Except for infrastructure, the municipality demonstrated marked improvements in the other pillars, the CMCI results showed.
Among the 5th to 6th class towns in Bicol, the only LGU to rank higher than Bato is Barcelona, Sorsogon which placed 5th nationwide with an overall score of 42.0724.
The other five towns in Catanduanes in the category had mixed results in the 2024 CMCI.
Bagamanoc’s ranking fell 28 places from 229th last year to 257th in 2024, with its overall score of 24.5519 dragged down by declining scores in all five main pillars of competitiveness.
Fresh from winning its first Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) in 2023, Baras climbed 25 spots up with a score of 29.4439 good for 165th.
An even better performance was displayed by Gigmoto, which sits at 163rd or two places above Baras, with an overall score of 29.5206. The eastern town’s rating was buoyed by a high score in Government Efficiency, 9.3769, which is 44th nationwide.
Panganiban was the second most improved among 5th to 6th class towns, elevating its ranking to 155th with a total score of 29.7739. It built on its previous year’s 198th rank largely due to higher scores in Government Efficiency and Innovation.
On the other hand, San Miguel moved up 22 places to 212th with an overall score of 27.2528. From its 234th ranking last year, the administration made gains in Economic Dynamism, Innovation and Infrastructure, with the latter boasting a score that ranked 112th nationwide.
In the category for 3rd to 4th class municipalities, Viga was the highest placed in the competitiveness index, with its overall score of 30.5421 good for 263rd among 660 such towns in the country.
It is also the most improved among the four towns in Catanduanes in the category as it vaulted 168 spots from its 2023 ranking of 431st.
The LGU made huge strides in Infrastructure (up by 177 ranks) and Innovation, where is score ranked 74th nationwide.
The 3rd class town of San Andres also inched up by 17 places to 482nd with a total score of 26.9298, as it showed improvements in Government Efficiency, Resiliency and Innovation.
Caramoran lost ground in the competitiveness index, with its 24.0932 score good only with 587th as it dropped by four places from its 2023 rating. The only bright spot in the town’s CMCI performance was in Resiliency.
With subpar ratings in all five main pillars, Pandan was the lowest placed Catanduanes LGU at 607th, a far cry from its 480th ranking in last year’s competitiveness index.
The only 1st class municipality in the province, Virac, slipped 27 places down to 200th in this year’s CMCI, but it registered notable improvements in Infrastructure (55th among 509 towns nationwide), Economic Dynamism (108th) and Resiliency (145th).
Among Bicol’s six provinces, Albay’s overall score of 36.1899 got the highest ranking at 9th among 82 provinces while Masbate’s 27.9946 was the lowest at 78th.
The other island province in the region, Catanduanes, improved two spots from its previous 76th place to 74th this year with a total score of 26.1386.
Camarines Sur was 12th with 35.8270, Camarines Norte 32nd with 33.2996, and Sorsogon 45th with 32.0873.
Unlike the assessment of cities and municipalities, provinces are ranked based on population and income weighted averages of the overall scores of the cities and municipalities under the province.
The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index was developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.
Cities and municipalities are ranked on their competitiveness based on an overall competitiveness score. The overall competitiveness score is the sum of scores on five main pillars which pool data from several sub-indicators. The five main pillars are: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, resiliency, and innovation. Scores are determined by the values of the actual data, as well as the completeness of the submitted data. The higher the score of a city or municipality, the more competitive it is.
The Index can be used as a diagnostic tool by local government officials to assess the competitiveness of their city or municipality and identify areas for improvement and collaboration. Data can provide insight for policymaking, development planning and investment promotion.
For the business community, the Index can serve as a guide in deciding where to locate. Aside from the overall score, data on the different indicators will prove valuable depending on the specific needs of their business.
The Index also paints a general picture of Philippine cities and municipalities which may be used by the academe, civil society and even tourists as a take-off point for further research.