Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday thanked his constituents for their role in making Bacolod land Number One among the country’s most livable cities and appealed for their continued cooperation to sustain its progress.

Leonardia made the appeal after Bacolod City was rated the number one among the 20 “Best Places to Live” in the Philippines today based on the March-April 2008 edition of MoneySense, a financial magazine for international release.

Leonardia said this recognition was given by people who are experts, independent, objective and scientific, and have no interest in Bacolod. “If this is how people from the outside see us here, it is with more reason that we here on the inside should be cognizant of this and work to maintain it,” he said.

“Of course, Bacolod is not perfect. We have our share of problems although it is clear that, in the evaluation of the Asian Institute of Management and the United Nations Development Programme, we are better off than others,” he said.

The recognition comes on the heels of the city’s recent award as the “Most Business Friendly City in the Philippines” given by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is also a finalist as the Most Child-Friendly City, and was in the top four of the Most Disabled-Friendly Cities, Leonardia said.

He also recalled that when the AIM came up with a competitiveness contest, Bacolod ranked number one in the criteria on “quality of life”, he said.

PEOPLE, LIFESTYLE

The article entitled “Best Places to Live” ranked Bacolod first and Makati second in the list of the top 20 cities. They were followed by Davao, Marikina, Iloilo, Las Piñas, Pasig, San Fernando, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Manila, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Muntinlupa, Angeles, Baguio, Lipa, Calamba, General Santos and Cebu.

While every city has its own characteristics, he said, the article described Bacolod as having “friendly people,” a “laidback lifestyle” while having the amenities found in Manila, and “easy access to nearby vacation destinations.”

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

It also said living in Bacolod is having the best of both worlds, he added.

Heinz Bulos, MoneySense editor-in-chief, explained that for the compilation of their first list of the “Best Places to Live”, they relied on two existing surveys, and these are the Philippine Human Development Report published by the Human Development Network in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, and the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.

City Administrator Roger Balo said the magazine’s board of advisers include Gabriel Singson, former Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and Lilia Bautista, former chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission, while the chairman of the board is Roberto de Ocampo, former Finance Secretary and DBP chairman.

“We should be happy that we are residents of Bacolod,” Balo said.

Meanwhile, Leonardia said, “I hope those people here who focus only on our shortcomings will now realize that there is a bigger picture and more positive things to see in Bacolod than just those isolated matters. If we have problems let’s help each other instead of fighting each other,” he said.

“We cannot keep on pulling each other down. Instead, let’s pull each other forward to help hasten the progress of our city,” Leonardia said.*CGS

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