BACOLOD CITY — Bacolod City remains on the top three of the “most livable urban centers in the country” list, placing second to Davao City in The Manila Times’ Search for the Philippine Model Cities and Municipalities 2018.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who accepted the first runner-up plaque during the awarding ceremonies held at Conrad Manila hotel in Pasay City Tuesday afternoon, said the award is “inspiring.”
In the contest’s first edition last year, Bacolod was named the grand winner in the Top Philippine Model City 2017 Awards.
This year, Laoag City was declared second runner-up.
“If we come right after Davao, that is still something to crow about. Likewise, this ranking shows how consistent we are,” Leonardia said, pointing out that Bacolod is actually competing with other big and dynamic cities.
“We are very, very pleased. This, for me, is a validation and proof of consistency. Last year, we were called the ‘Top Model City’ and this time we came very close to that after Davao,” he added.
For 2018, Bacolod was also awarded as the “Most Business-Friendly City.”
“An added incentive and inspiration is that we were given a special title as the ‘Most Business-Friendly City,’” the mayor said.
Leonardia said that Bacolod is “growing very rapidly,” with major developers coming in, spurring developments all over the city.
“Now it can be told that ‘Bacolod is the next big thing,” the mayor said.
Vice Mayor El Cid, who joined Leonardia during the awarding rites,6 said that along the City Council, he is honored to receive the award.
“This is an inspiration for us to do better than best next year,” he added.
City Administrator John Orola said that under the dynamic leadership of Leonardia, the city officials and those in the bureaucracy “contributed to all these efforts.”
The Manila Times president and chief executive officer Dante “Klink” Ang II, and chief operating officer Blanca Mercado awarded the plaques to the winners. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
