THE municipalities of Compostela, Compostela Valley and of Sulop, Davao del Sur, were awarded the most competitive first- to second-class municipality and third- to sixth-class municipality, respectively, in Davao Region during the 1st Regional Competitiveness Awards held at the Grand Regal Hotel on December 18.

In her speech, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Davao Regional Director Belinda Ambi said that building local competitiveness is important in achieving long-term and sustainable national competitiveness.

"The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) envisions a more competitive Philippines and to instill a culture of excellence through public-private collaboration as a means to reduce poverty and attain inclusive growth...The development of a framework for local competitiveness was one of the key links in connecting global competitiveness to the local government units," Ambi said.

The four main pillars on which the municipalities' and cities' competitiveness were based upon were their economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency.

For the most competitive first- and second-class municipalities, the third place was awarded to the municipality of Kapalong, Davao del Norte, while the municipality of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, garnered the second place.

Compostela, Compostela Valley, was declared the most competitive first- to second-class municipality.

Based on the data published for 2017 Most Competitive Municipalities on the National Competitiveness Council official website, Compostela, Compostela Valley, ranked 14th in Resiliency category with a score of 16.96. It ranked 25th in the Infrastructure category scoring a total of 7.80, while it ranked 78th for government efficiency with a score of 11.03 and 146th in the economic dynamism with a score of 4.85.

The municipality of Braulio E. Dujali, Davao del Norte, was the third most competitive third- to sixth-class municipality in the region. The second place was given to San Isidro, Davao Oriental, while the most competitive third- to sixth-class municipality was given to Sulop, Davao del Sur.

Still from the same official data, Sulop ranked 24th for the Resiliency category scoring a total of 16.59, 78th on the Infrastructure category with a score of 6.83, 102nd for the Government Efficiency category scoring 10.93, and 158th for Economic Dynamism with a total score of 4.49.