I noticed that this blog received several visitors through Bacolod City & Negros Occidental forum at SkyscraperCity.com in connection with my previous post on the Best Place to Live. There were several questions raised on the forum but due to some misfortune I could not comment even though I was able to login. If ever some forumers happen to pass by again, I just would like to clarify something regarding the question raised in the forum.
Why was Cebu at the bottom of the Top 20 as most forumers expect it to be at least on the Top 5?
I am not personally connected with MoneySense nor Mr. Heinz Bulos (Editor-In-Chief and author of the article). Mr. Bulos emailed and told me about the article they are preparing and that Bacolod is on the Top 10 of the list of the Best Places to Live. He further told me that he found my blog through Google and asked me to answer a few questions. It was only when I read the article that I learned that Bacolod was in fact on the top of the list.
Methodology
Mr. Bulos explained their methodology in coming up with the ranking (sidebar in the article). He said they based their ranking on the Philippines Human Development Report (PHDR) and the Philippine Cities Competitiveess Ranking Project (PCCRP) of the Asian Institute of Mangement (AIM) Policy Center.
First, they got the top 30 provinces including Metro Manila based on the 2003 Human Development Index of the PHDR. But these are only on the provincial level so they further identified the cities and municipalities classified by the National Statistics Office as first class in terms of income from the 30 provinces, ending up with 219 places.
From the list, they considered only those in the AIM study of the most competitive cities which used seven key drivers of competitiveness – cost of doing business, dynamism of local economy, linkages and accessibility, infrastructure, human resources, responsiveness of LGUs, and quality of life.
However, they only focused on three criteria – dynamism of local economy (which indicates income opportunities), infrastructure (which relates to availability of modern conveniences), and quality of life (which refers to clean, safe place to raise a family). I believe this is logical for these criteria are what most people would look for in a place to live. The average ranking using these criteria were used in coming up with the top 20 cities.
Expecting complaints and criticisms on the ranking, Mr. Bulos made further explanations on the Editor’s Note page. If I may quote him,“Sorry, we don’t hand-pick the list based on personal opinion. “ He was expecting Cebu and Baguio to be at least on the Top 10. I hope that clears the air, in fairness to Mr. Bulos.Personally, I am already aware of the result of the PCCRP 2005 when it was released in early 2006 so I was no longer surprised why Bacolod got the top spot. I provided links to the AIM press release and the PCCRP 2005 result presentation in my previous post. According to the AIM press release,
- Sixty-five cities were surveyed in PCCRP 2005, the fourth edition of the project. Cities were categorized into 13 metropolitan cities (cities comprising Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao), 15 mid-sized cities (non-metro cities each with a population greater than 200,000), and 37 small cities (each with a population less than 200,000). Geographically, 30 cities are from Luzon, 14 from Visayas, and 21 from Mindanao.
- The PCCRP utilizes qualitative and quantitative criteria to assess city competitiveness vis-à-vis the major drivers of competitiveness. Each driver has corresponding indicators. Twenty-three indicators were quantitative, 45 perception-based.
- Qualitative data. Sixty SME owners and managers per city answered a self-administered survey consisting of 45 questions.
Quantitative data. Fact-based city/provincial data were gathered from official government publications.
Focus Group Discussions. At the end of the survey phase, industry associations, local chamber officials, and businessmen were convened to discuss issues relevant to a city’s overall performance.
My Take
I am also surprised that Cebu was so far down the list but undeniably, the PCCRP was not done haphazardly. Each city has its own charm and I believe our respective hometowns will always be one of the best places to live and no survey will ever dislodge it from that special place.
This is not a perfect ranking and neither is Bacolod City. However, I think this is a good start for someone who is not sure where to live and raise a family. In the end, the decision is still yours.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
i am from bacolod and have travelled quite a bit around the country. but yeah, i love bacolod. i think the progress here is just enough and does not make people impersonal. we still have barangays and communities and people are still pretty much close-knit.
but second to bacolod, i would like to live in davao city. i would not want to live in baguio city per se, but perhaps in la trinidad, where it is less crowded and still get the same cold weather.
cebu…well i like to visit cebu, but i am not sure if i want to live there. and oh yeah, ormoc, it is quite easy there.
sigroid75′s last blog post..Gas Prices on the Rise
@sigroid75 – That’s what I noticed too. When you go malling, chances are, you’ll still meet somebody you know. And there are several malls in Bacolod now.
different criteria, different results. In my criteria, Cebu is in top 3, and ahead of all the cities i’ve visited so far in the Philippines. Pero I know i’m bias.
as for a place to retire, dumaguete is on top of my list.
lazarus’s last blog post..2007 Philippine Bar Exams Results
@Lazarus – I’ve been there several times and I like what I saw. It’s a university town so there are a lot of young residents. Siliman University is definitely one of the bests in the country.