The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Ronnel Domingo has an article today about eight cities that made it to the Institute for Solidarity in Asia’s list of business-friendly cities.

ISA is headed by Jess Estanislao, one of the few persons in this country most qualified to make this list. Estanislao is known by most as the chief economic manager of the Aquino administration, first as socioeconomic planning secretary and later as finance secretary. What few people know is that he has a PhD from Harvard University, where he was also a teaching fellow and a research fellow.

I included this little snippet because ISA’s public governance system and scorecard is patterned after Harvard’s scorecard for LGUs. Any ranking of the country’s cities will fall down like a pack of cards if there is even a tiny hint that the judging process is arbitrary. Who else but Jess can ensure that the list is bullet-proof?

So (drum rolls please), the eight most business-friendly cities are:

San Fernando in La Union province

San Fernando in Pampanga

Marikina in Metro Manila

Naga in Camarines Sur

Sorsogon in Sorsogon province

Calbayog in Samar

Iloilo in Iloilo province

Tagbilaran in Bohol

Here’s an excerpt of the article:

The eight city governments have partnered with ISA on a program called Dream Cities, which requires each of them to map out a charter that states their visions for the next few years.

Examples are Marikina’s goal of becoming Southeast Asia’s model city in competitiveness; San Fernando’s positioning to become a tourist destination, and Tagbilaran’s desire to become a premier eco-cultural tourism hub in Asia.

Twelve other cities nationwide have joined the ISA program: Tuguegarao, Dagupan, Tagaytay, Iriga, Cebu, Dumaguete, Ligao, Panabo, Tacurong, Tangub, Toledo and Samal.

The ISA’s support includes help in strategic planning for spurring business, infrastructure development, and zoning. The LGUs are required to involve the community in government affairs.

“They have resources to do these projects,” Fulgencio said. “They also need to create an Office of Strategy Management, which is responsible for the core plan within the city.”

Formed last year to address perceptions that the country’s attractiveness to investors was waning relative to neighboring countries, the NCC has created six groups to formulate action agendas and push initiatives focused on human resources; management expertise in specific public offices; financing to micro, small and medium enterprises; reduction of transaction costs and improved transaction flows; the upgrade of infrastructure, particularly in transportation, and reduction of costs and securing supplies of electricity.

Click here to read the rest of the article: