Mangaldan Honors as One of Most Competitive LGUs in Region-1

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

MANGALDAN, Pangasinan – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) feted this central Pangasinan first class town as one of the top performing local government units in the 2023 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) Survey in Region-1.

GUV AND THE MAYORA. Pangasinan Governor Ramon V. Guico, III (7th from left) poses with Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno (seated) and her officials during Parayno’s 2023 State of the Municipal Address held on November 30 at the Public Auditorium of the first class town. The event coincides with the lady chief executive's birthday. (Photo by Mortz C. Ortigoza)

In the recognition held recently at the La Union Convention Center in the City of San Fernando, La Union, DTI Region-1 Director Grace Palgui-Baluyan lauded the administration of Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno as one of the awardees.

“In this regard, we are deeply honored to invite you as one of the LGU awardees. Your presence is a great source of inspiration to other LGUs and stakeholders in promoting the culture of competitiveness in the region, ”an excerpt of the letter of Baluyan to Mayor Parayno furnished to Northern Watch Newspaper.

The event dubbed as Fiestakucha: Rimat ti Amianan highlighted the exemplary contribution of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the growth and development of the priority industry clusters.

Rankings of Cities and Municipalities are based on the sum of their scores on 4 Pillars: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure and Resiliency. Provincial rankings are based on population and income weighted average of the Overall scores of cities and municipalities under a province.

This 30 barangays’ town raked this year numerous awards like the 2nd Place Overall Most Competitive Municipality in Region 1, 2nd Place Most Competitive LGU in the Pillar of Resiliency in Region 1, 1st Place Most Competitive LGU in the Pillar of Innovation in Region 1 and 3rd Place Most Competitive LGU in the Pillar of Infrastructure in Region 1.

LGU Mangaldan also garnered the award as the Top 3 Most Competitive LGU in the Pillar of Resiliency for 1st to 2nd Class Municipality Category in the Philippines during the Philippine Creative Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Congress last September 28 held at the Manila Hotel, Ermita, Manila.

Among the 48 towns of Pangasinan, Mangaldan is one of the few – like Sual, Binalonan, Bayambang to name few – that is most economically progressive.

On her proposed 2024 local government’s budget of P430, 000, 000, she leads the pack while the burgeoning municipalities of Lingayen (P408, 222, 843), Calasiao (P380, 000,000) and Binmaley (P324, 360, 000) follow.