Wednesday, July 09, 2008 AIM study 'basically flawed'
MORE sharp reactions came after Cagayan de Oro managed poorly in the 2007 assessment of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) policy center for most livable cities in the Philippines.
City Mayor Constantino Jaraula huddled with leaders of the local business community Tuesday to talk on why Cagayan de Oro dropped to the 11th spot of most livable medium-sized cities.
After a briefing by the businessmen, Jaraula said the survey put Cagayan de Oro in a "loop-sided competition" among smaller cities like Butuan City, which, because of the size of their population, could devote more resources to development.
"For starters, the study is basically flawed. Smaller cities can devote more resources to sustain their development," Jaraula said.
Jaraula said he wondered why the AIM study has classified Cagayan de Oro as a medium-sized city when its population has already passed 561,000 in 2006.
He said the National Statistics Office has certified the new population figure for Cagayan de Oro and that data was used when the bill was passed in Congress to divide the city into two congressional districts in 2007.
"The study started with a basic error... our population," Jaraula said.
The AIM study classified Cagayan de Oro as a medium-sized city because it registered a population of 461,877 persons. Twenty-five other cities were also classified in that category.
Olongapo City topped the 25 mid-sized cities surveyed followed by General Santos. Cagayan de Oro was ranked at 11th spot, much lower than Butuan City, which tied with Iloilo City for the 9th spot.
Patterned after the International Management Development's World Competitiveness Yearbook, the study is the flagship research undertaking of AIM and now on its ninth year.
The study looks at the over-all competitiveness of Philippine cities based on several "yardsticks": cost of doing business; dynamism of local economy; human resources and training; infrastructure; responsiveness of the local government to business sector's needs; and quality of life.
Cagayan de Oro has steadily dropped since the survey was first made in 2003. The city was third most livable city in 2003; two years later, Cagayan de Oro dropped to eight; and again to the 11th spot last year.
Rodolfo Menes, president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Oro chamber) said the results of the study could send "serious repercussions" to prospective business investments in the city.
"Every potential investors will read about it in the newspapers, in the web and will rethink if our city is worth investing," Menes said.
He said he wondered why Cagayan de Oro fared low in the category of dynamism of the local economy when local real estate sales -- spearheaded by Ayala Land investments -- have perked up.
"In our book, business has perk up especially in the real estate sector. That is a sign that our local economy is dynamic," he said.
The City Treasurers Office also reported that more than 7,000 small medium enterprises and 14,000 businesses have registered for this year alone -- an increase of 18 percent annually. Small medium enterprise is categorized as those having between a capital of P3 to P15 million and having 10 to 19 workers.
Disbelief
"What happened? Something is wrong? It is impossible for Cagayan de Oro to land in the bottom with all the good indicators we have," Mariz B. Agbon, president of the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC).
Agbon, who was a former secretary general of the Orochamber, said local business leaders should look at the results of the study to know where Cagayan de Oro fared poorly.
He said among the things that should be look at is the volume of cargo going in and out at the port of Cagayan de Oro; the number of businesses registered; and number of students enrolled in the schools and vocational schools.
"The problem with the survey is that it was based on hard data and perception among local businessmen. The two should be well-balanced," Agbon said.
Elpidio Paras, a former president of Oro chamber agreed with Agbon.
"Perception is tricky. If one trader interviewed remembers he had a bad time getting his business license from the local government, he or she could give the city poor marks," Paras said.
Paras said when the survey was made in 2007, a small group of Oro chamber members were gathered and a focus group discussion was made by the AIM researchers.
He said the AIM researchers then sent out questionnaires to other Oro chamber members who were not able to attend the group discussion.
According to its primer, AIM tapped prominent universities known for its research capabilities. In Northern Mindanao, AIM tapped Xavier University to conduct surveys for the cities of Gingoog, Cagayan de Oro, and Malaybalay.
AIM noted that for the 2007 results, several respondents did not answer questions pertaining to numerical data.
"Due to very low quality of information gathered for these specific variables, it was automatically dropped from the analysis," it said.
Councilor Ramon Tabor, chair of the City Council Committee on Commerce, urged local business leaders to be open minded with the results of the AIM.
"Let us all have an open mind. Let us improve what needs to be improved," he said.
Tabor said his committee plans to have dialogue with Orochamber regarding this issue.
