Bacolod is on track towards hosting an office of the Securities and Exchange Commission that will make it the 8th city in the country to have one and provide businesses easier access to the corporate regulatory body.

“This means our city, that was declared most business friendly in 2008, is about to become even friendlier,” Bacolod Rep. Evelio Leonardia, who has filed a bill for the local SEC office, said.

“We have a very high volume of corporations operating in Bacolod and Negros Occidental and this justified our lobby for a SEC office, Leonardia said.

SEC statistics show that, as early as the start of this year, there were 5,640 corporations with principal offices in Bacolod city alone, Leonardia said. The same figures show 8,296 more in the rest of Negros Occidental and 1,493 in Negros Oriental, so, clearly, a local SEC office is needed now, he added.

Leonardia who had filed a bill seeking the establishment of the SEC office in Bacolod, said the bill is now in the Committee on Banks chaired by Rep. Sonny Collantes, who is fully supportive of it.

He also said he has asked Senator Franklin Drilon to file a counterpart bill in the Senate.

The Bacolod solon also said the SEC office itself, headed by Commissioner Teresita Herbosa, supports the creation of a local office in Bacolod.*

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