Unhealthy competition

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index in an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.

Cities and Municipalities are ranked, based on an overall competitiveness score which is the sum of scores on the three main pillars of economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure. This annual ranking is a manifestation of the NCC’s vision of a more competitive Philippines, and a culture of excellence through public-private sector collaboration as a means to reduce poverty through inclusive growth.

A higher ranking of a city on the annual report is an acknowledgement of the improvements that have been invested in or instituted to raise its competitiveness. The metrics are only secondary to the results and it is not the annual ranking but the institutionalizing of the effort exerted by the people running the cities to achieve these improvements that translate to inclusive growth and better lives that is the goal of the NCC.

The latest ranking that showed Bacolod City dropping from an impressive fifth in 2013, to a dismal 20th in the 2014 assessment of the National Competitiveness Council,  is undoubtedly something that needs to be addressed immediately as it is not just a damning metric on the performance of the people in charge during that period, it is also a warning of how easy it is to lose whatever it is we earned in the past once the people who should have a clear vision of what they want their city to be turn the focus to other things.

How hard is it to maintain the competitiveness of a city that has already established itself multiple times in the recent past as among the best in the country? Does it depend on how the people in charge and how they define competitiveness?

We can take back the top spot if they see it as a quest for constant and continuous improvement that doesn’t hesitate to build on the gains of the past to improve the future.  But if their idea of competition involves a selfishly myopic agenda where the focus is on tearing down and discrediting everything that was built by their political rivals, then we may have to find something else to compete in.*