DTI awards Mayor Climaco

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry awarded Mayor Beng Climaco with a plaque after Zamboanga City was included in the “Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index” (CMCI) in the country.

DTI Provincial Director Grace Aduca formally presented the award to Climaco during the orientation on public service values for job order employees. 

 DTI Provincial Director Grace Aduca presents the award to Mayor Beng Climaco.

The local government also ranked 12^th in the Resiliency ranking and 13^th in Economic Dynamism in the 2021 CMCI. 

The local government also ranked 16^th in Government Efficiency ranking and 18^th in Infrastructure ranking, according to the CMCI, an annual ranking of cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.

The rankings of cities and municipalities were based on the sum of their scores on four pillars: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency. The provincial rankings were based on population and income weighted average of the overall scores of cities and municipalities under a province.

Last year, Zamboanga City was 15^th in overall CMCI and distinguished itself as the 5th Most Improved Local Government among all 33 highly urbanized cities in the country – 16 of which are located in Metro Manila.

The local government along with other cities and municipalities were feted recently by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Climaco praised City Hall employees and department heads for their hard work even during the Covid-19 pandemic and the heightened political propaganda and attacks against her administration ahead of the local and national elections. 

“My appreciation goes to all our employees, the department heads and everybody who really works hard despite the current health crisis. I thanked God most of all for continuously guiding me in these difficult times of the pandemic and the challenges ahead of us all,” she told the Zamboanga Post by phone.  

Climaco was also selected to speak online for a technical panel on Cascading, Compound, and Systemic Risks during the Asia Pacific Science and Technology Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 (APSTCDRR).   

The mayor shared her insights on inclusion and resiliency, drawing from her experiences as local chief executive during the 2013 siege of Zamboanga by Moro National Liberation Front rebels and the Covid-19 pandemic.  

“For us in local government, resiliency begins with having a shared and common vision, propelled forward by a whole-of-city approach and sustained by strong political will to enact the systems for change,” Climaco said.  

The APSTCDRR 2022 was hosted by the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Science and Technology, the National Resilience Council, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; and the Asia-Pacific Science and Technology Advisory Group and ARISE Philippines.  

In 2018, Climaco also joined the 7^th Top Leaders Forum in Manila, which brought together the private and public sector which discussed “Building a Culture of Resilience through Public-Private Partnership.” (Zamboanga Post)