BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia has expressed optimism that the city will continue to attract investors to bring in more property developments.
As the Colliers International Philippines recognized Bacolod as one of the notable locations for hotel and commercial offices development in the country, Leonardia said he values this recognition as it plays an important role in terms of attracting more businesses.
“In effect, you are given the presumption of being good thus, we should take this seriously, avail and ride on this momentum every time we have positive news like this,” he added.
The global services company had earlier reported that in terms of commercial offices, Bacolod as well as Quezon, Pampanga, Cebu, Davao and Iloilo are notable locations primarily for co-working space, SM malls, and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO).
Colliers also listed Bacolod City along with Cebu and Palawan as a notable location for hotel development.
Its performance is in fact projected to increase next year especially with trends like three to four-star hotels and resort-oriented developments, the company said.
Leonardia cited the local government’s determined effort to cut red tape as one measure to make it easy for business to grow.
“In our business platform, we emphasized that business should rapidly grow,” Leonardia said, adding that “we can see the signs of the times because all big players are here now.”
Among these players include SM Prime Holdings Inc., Ayala Land Corp., Megaworld Corp., Double Dragon Properties, and Robinsons Land Corp.
Their presence is an indicator that they see something in Bacolod, the mayor said.
Leonardia recalled that SM Prime had even filed a case against Ayala land over a piece of property in the city, noting that this means that “there must be something to fight for, there must be a gold mine here.”
Private sector developments are being complemented by public infrastructures.
Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, who was in the city earlier this week, said more infrastructure projects are lined up for Bacolod.
These include two more flyovers, road networks like the Bacolod Economic Highway, and Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge, among others.
Leonardia added that Bacolod with a population of almost 593,000 only is the sixth biggest city outside Metro Manila next to Cebu, Davao, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos.
The city is smaller compared to other cities but the economy here is on up trend, Leonardia said.
“If we are able to make businesses grow, there will be more job opportunities thus, purchasing power of our people would be enhanced," he said, adding that “taxes will also increase which we can use again to make it beneficial for our people.” (EPN/With reports from PNA)