Bacolod City: Best Place to Live in the Philippines

by PromdiBlogger on March 19, 2008

Best Place to LiveBacolod City Chosen as the Best Place to Live by Moneysense

It’s an affirmation of my choice. From among 65 cities that were ranked, Bacolod City topped the list of “Best Places to Live” by MoneySense magazine. Heinz Bulos, Editor-In-Chief, said that in coming up with the ranking, they relied on two existing surveys, the Philippine Human Development Report and the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project (PCCRP) of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) for 2005. Whereas PCCRP uses seven criteria in ranking the cities, MoneySense chose only three – dynamism of local economy, infrastructure, and quality of life.

Bulos noted that Bacolod City can be considered as an over-achiever. Here’s why:

Most Competitive Mid-Sized City in the Philippines for two consecutive years.

  • Based on the results of the PCCRP for the years 2003 and 2005, Bacolod City ranked high in all criteria from among the cities under the mid-sized category. These are non-metro cities with a population of more than 200,000.It ranked highest on Infrastructure and Quality of Life.

Clean and Green Hall of Fame Awardee

  • Bacolod City was named the “Cleanest and Greenest Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines” for five years (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002) earning it the distinction to be in the Clean and Green Hall of Fame.

Most Business Friendly Local Government Unit in the Philippines

  • Bacolod bested 130 other cities when the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry declared it the “Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit in the Philippines” in 2007. It was the second year in a row for Bacolod to be named the “Most Business-Friendly City in the Visayas”. As the regional winner, it became a finalist and competed with the other regional winners and was chosen as the national winner.

Iloilo City, which was also on the Top 5 of PCCRP for Mid-Sized Cities category, ranked 5th. It should be noted that when Moneysense ranked the “Best Places to Live”, it did not categorize the cities as to population size but based the ranking on the three criteria only.

Is your city on the list?
Want to know if your city is on the Top 20? Here’s the complete list:

  1. Bacolod
  2. Makati
  3. Davao
  4. Marikina
  5. Iloilo
  6. Las Piñas
  7. Pasig
  8. San Fernando
  9. Mandaluyong
  10. Quezon City
  11. Manila
  12. Batangas
  13. Cagayan de Oro
  14. Muntinlupa
  15. Angeles
  16. Baguio
  17. Lipa
  18. Calamba
  19. General Santos
  20. Cebu

MoneySense has a lengthy article featuring the cities in the Top 10 of the “Best Places to Live” in the Philippines. Want to know why they’re on the Top 10? Go grab yourself a copy of the March-April 2008 issue.

{ 92 comments… read them below or add one }

richie siu September 27, 2009 at 11:55 am

for me, makati is best city followed by tagaytay and marikina.

Reply

Mike October 2, 2009 at 8:50 am

huh? are you kidding’? … Bacolod has never been the top of the list among the cities in the Philippines!!!???
besides, I never heard much about the progress about this city?…LoL
Ohhh…well, I have my own sources, ……….
hmmm…..according to my 7 sources….Bacolod always at the least…. :(

Reply

ike ledesma October 14, 2009 at 6:26 pm

you are so right mike!!! have been staying here at 14th st along Lacson st. and in front of el fisher hotel..and right at the corner of that stree you should see the garbage and illegal structures, and this only about 5 meters from the main street!!! i can send pictures if you like.

Reply

paolo sorso July 23, 2012 at 9:55 am

the author is from Bacolod

Reply

PromdiBlogger July 23, 2012 at 12:56 pm

The blogger is from Bacolod but the Writer/Editor of Monseysense is not.

Reply

vevero October 25, 2009 at 6:29 am

I’ve been some key cities in he Philippines but still Bacolod is the best place to live. Just come and visit Bacolod City and see it, stupid guys!

Reply

paolo sorso July 23, 2012 at 9:57 am

over-hyping! Bacolod since then is the Most Overrated City in the Philippines. The city is ranked second to Cebu in terns of freeloading publicities.

Reply

PromdiBlogger July 23, 2012 at 1:02 pm

You are entitled to your opinion Paolo. I think getting advantage of free publicity is a good strategy. Is it so hard to take it as a challenge if our city is not on top of the list?

Reply

white knight October 31, 2009 at 6:49 am

Nothing beats the cities in Mindanao such as Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Zamboanga where their is less pollution, less crimes, low price commodities/standard of living, no traffic, no major calamities, nice people. And we have the same facilities found in Manila, Cebu, etc such as shopping malls,hotels, bars,night life & infrastructures. Ours is indeed heaven, in my opinion we have the best of both worlds.

Reply

tom October 27, 2010 at 2:10 am

hi im tom could tell me more about it , i always heard to many muslims there ?

Reply

choki March 11, 2012 at 6:24 am

cities in mindanao are disorganized and more corrupt. especially the one you mentioned. ive been there for atleast eight months and nothing improves. visayas and northern luzon is the best place to live. like bacolod and cagayan valley.

Reply

douglas scaramanga October 30, 2012 at 2:10 am

how can u say that mindanao is the best place to live? how about the Abu sayyaf, the MNLF…

Reply

marie February 7, 2010 at 12:38 pm

ei! to those who are not satisfied with the survey, why dont you visit bacolod so you can see it for yourself. garbage in the streets is common here in the philippines, besides, we are not only talking about garbage here.. the cost of living in bacolod is reasonable, the standard of education, the businesses and infrastructures are good and becoming better each year, in fact, you can see new hotels and bars, and restaurants almost every year, and considering the population there,these only show how fruitful the bacolodnons are, not to mention that these infrastructures are owned by the residents of the city alone. the people there are very sophisticated and very refined.

Reply

D. Deocampo October 22, 2011 at 7:52 pm

I left Bacolod in 1973, When I came back — from Califoria — in 2004. I was very pleased with all the improvements and innovations around Bacolod. . . and when compared to Manila?, let’ s not even talk about it! Sorry, but Manila is a pile of trash!
I’ll eventually retire in the Philippines, and, of course, choose Bacolod City,

Reply

douglas scaramanga October 30, 2012 at 2:00 am

manila is a pile of trash..,all their wastes they dumped it to their cleanest river — pasig river…yuckkkyyyy!!!

Reply

greem June 15, 2011 at 3:03 pm

BACOLOD pa ..Ngaun mga bldgs caht saan nlng.. nung una qc NOT ALLOWD mg tau ng hghrse bldgs bcoz ung a!rport ay nsa central .ngaun mbute nasa northern part na.

Bacolod.cleanest and greenest tlga.. envronmental frndly pa..oo mnsan hot ung clmate but 8s natural .. d catulad sa Cebu; Metro.M; !lo!lo na sobrang polluted .. 1ve been n many places .but bacolod gd ang da best !

Nothng beats ours .

xoxo

Reply

mel September 24, 2012 at 3:07 am

there’s nothing wonr with being patriotic or being liyal and bias on your own city…yes, I have visited Bacolod several times and I find it interesting and to me it’s really a city compared to other cities in the Philippines wherein if you sit it next to Bacolod, it becomes a Barangay like Roxas City where Mar Roxas came from. He has never helped improve his own hometown.. anyway, we are considering moving to Bacolod for there is more in there. But have any of you checked out DUMAGUETE CITY??? It’s really beautiful. It has the charm. But it’s kinda expensive to live there.

Reply

nick a. berdeblanco January 5, 2012 at 4:49 am

Welcome to Bacolod! The cleanest and greenest city for almost 5 consecutive years! The City of Smile and the Province of Love! Mabuhay ka Bacolod, Negros Occidental. The Lord Bless You! and Keep You!

Thank You! Bacolod! & we proud of you for being Colorful!
To God be the Glory!

Reply

nick a. berdeblanco January 5, 2012 at 5:05 am

Thank you! Bacolod!
For there’s Love, Cooperation, Understanding especially Christ Centered!

Reply

Jose A. Dureza, FUAP January 5, 2012 at 5:47 am

I went to high school and college in Iloilo City, landed my first job, got married, and raised four children in Bacolod. Then I moved the family to Makati, and later Las Pinas, before migrating to New Jersey. Its interesting to see those cities listed among your choice places to live. I still keep my “Ang Banwahanon Award”, when Digoy Montalvo was Mayor, and certainly this distinction is a feather in the cap of Bing Leonardia. As the late Architect Antonio Ascalon would cheer, “Viva Bacolod”.

Reply

gale April 3, 2012 at 9:53 am

go bacolod.sa ayaw maniwala dyan do or own research

Reply

aniaque July 27, 2012 at 3:47 pm

BORACAY is tourism capital in the philippines
rank 1. highest income in the philippines

Reply

Oliver August 27, 2012 at 7:40 am

Aloha. Bacolod, is now one the fastest growing cities in The Philippines interms of Business, Tourism, and in Education.
Ang dami naman ata Bitter. What’s the matter kung Taga Bacolod man o hindi ang Author dito?
The Facts speaks to itself. Not just self proclaimed facts, but it was conducted by Moneysense. Dun kayo magreklamo.
SIKAT NA SIKAT NA NGAYON ANG BACOLOD. SMILE BACOLOD!

Reply

nikki sixxx September 5, 2012 at 12:09 pm

HEY GUYZ….TAMA C PROMDI BLOGGER BACOLOD IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE AND CLEANEST CITY IN THE PHIL…NO ONE CAN BEAT BACOLOD…CEBU,DAVAO,ILO2.MANILA,MAKATI…NONONO GUYZ…..BACOLOD STILL D BEST,,JUST VISIT THOSE HU DID NOT BEEN HERE….

Reply

mel September 24, 2012 at 3:08 am

there’s nothing wrong with being patriotic or being loyal and bias on your own city…yes, I have visited Bacolod several times and I find it interesting and to me it’s really a city compared to other cities in the Philippines wherein if you sit it next to Bacolod, it becomes a Barangay like Roxas City where Mar Roxas came from. He has never helped improve his own hometown.. anyway, we are considering moving to Bacolod for there is more in there. But have any of you checked out DUMAGUETE CITY??? It’s really beautiful. It has the charm. But it’s kinda expensive to live there.

Reply

Mafey November 27, 2012 at 1:39 pm

No other place can beat Bacolod…its one of the best… try to stay and see the difference.

Reply

Inno May 16, 2013 at 10:04 pm

Hmmm, If the author is stating the fact and your opinions differ, maybe it’s hard to accept the truth. “Sa amon dire, ginapala man gihapon ang kwarta” Just kidding. But, I am a witness to the truth. Bacolod is the epitome of cultural elite. Hospitable too. Bacolod is not 100 perfect, but at least the people are united. There are several hotels, Nature’s Village is one, situated within Bacolod and Talisay. There’s the Mambukal Resort and most of all Bacolodnons are really sweet, Sweet as the sugarcane

Reply

jead May 18, 2013 at 4:20 am

to promdiBlogger so what if the davao and cebu are in Metro category..
- if bacolod is the “Most Competitive Mid-sized City in the Philippines” after she earned 6.62 points in the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project which was conducted to 50 cities nationwide…
- Among the 13 mid-sized cities, Bacolod City ranked FIRST, earning 6.46 points, in “Infrastructure Adequacy and Quality” which indicates that the city has sufficient physical, technological, and knowledge support services that are required in transacting business such as: road infrastructure, telecommunications, production factors and transport systems. This criterion includes the number of banks, road density, vehicle density, number of internet service providers, well-managed road network and traffic, road clearance during peak hours, reliability of electric power services, abundance of water supply, easy connection of telephone lines from other service providers, adequate cellular phone signals, reliability of internet service providers, and adequate garbage management.

Reply

PromdiBlogger July 5, 2008 at 5:03 pm

Hi Marie! Probably when Moneysense conducted the ranking, the result of the 2007 PCCRP was not yet available. What happened between 2005 and 2007 for Bacolod? That is something that the LGU should worry about. Something should be done about this and it does not only concern the LGU but everybody else. Thank you for this info.

Reply

PromdiBlogger August 1, 2008 at 10:36 pm

Yup, I already made a post on that 2007 PCCRP here.

Which do you find funny, the fact that bacolod was not on the top? or that those on top did not pass your standards. hehehe… i’m not justifying why Bacolod was not on top but there was some mistake on the part of CPDO. The documents submitted to AIM did not mention some of the big investments like the SM City, construction of several hotels and the entry of several call centers. Previous years it was the City Administrator who took charge of the submission.

There’s always a next year so I’m sure Bacolod will be there once again on the top. :-D

Reply

PromdiBlogger August 2, 2008 at 2:28 pm

That’s ok Roberto, everybody’s a little partial to our hometown. Anyway, Davao belongs to the Metro Category like Cebu whereas Bacolod and Iloilo belong to the Mid-Sized Category. Davao is a beautiful city as what I have been told. Haven’t been there but I’ll visit soon. :-D

Reply

PromdiBlogger August 2, 2008 at 2:32 pm

LOL! That’s probably because we have a San Miguel Brewery here. They even claim that San Mig here tastes better because of the water source. Oh well, beer tastes the same for me anywhere. hehehe

Reply

Leave a Comment

{ 9 trackbacks }

Previous post:

Next post: