Being hailed as the most competitive province in the country is rewarding and challenging at the same time, so keeping that position for the third consecutive year is already a major feat. The Rizal Province has proven once again that they are a force to reckon with in the recently concluded 6th Regional Competitiveness Summit on 16 August 2018 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.
Laguna placed second, and Davao del Norte was the third most competitive province.
The summit presented the results of the Cities and Municipalities Index (CMCI) 2018, providing recognition to local government units (LGUs) with exemplary performance in four pillars of the index such as Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency. Awards were given to LGUs in four categories: Highly Urbanized Cities, Component Cities, 1st to 2nd Class Municipalities, and 3rd to 6th Class Municipalities. Some LGUs that have shown a lot of improvement on all the Pillars received awards as well. Awardees on this category were the LGUs who climbed several notches from their previous rank.
More than 1,500 LGUs participated in the CMCI. It is an annual ranking of Philippine Cities and Municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.
CALABARZON received a total of twelve (12) out of seventy-five (75) awards given.
For 1st to 2nd Class Municipalities under the Economic Dynamism, Cainta, Rizal once again took the first rank, Taytay, Rizal on the second, and Sto. Tomas, Batangas on the third. For the Component Cities category, Imus, Cavite ranked third.
Under the Government Efficiency pillar, Carmona, Cavite bagged the first place. Cainta, Rizal ranked third in the 1st and 2nd Class Municipalities under the Infrastructure pillar.
Taytay, Rizal won big, ranking first in the 1st and 2nd Class Municipalities category under the Resiliency pillar and Overall Competitiveness. Tanauan, Batangas ranked first in Component Cities under the Resiliency pillar, and Cainta, Rizal placed second in the 1st and 2nd Class Municipalities for Overall Competitiveness.♦