BACOLOD CITY — An all-time high of 23,187 permits registration in 2018 is an indication that business confidence has been restored in this city, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.

“This is a solid indicator that we have restored business confidence. Even the business world has taken notice of the business climate we have created in Bacolod,” the mayor said in an interview on Sunday.

Between 2015 and 2018, business permits registration increased by 23.22 percent — from 18,817 to 23,187 by Dec. 31, 2018.

Last year’s registration was 5.33 percent higher than the 22,004 establishments registered in the entire 2017. The 2017 figures are higher by 15.68 percent compared to the 19,021 approved permits in 2016.

Leonardia’s previous term as mayor ended in 2013, and he was succeeded by Monico Puentevella from 2013 to 2016. He won a fresh mandate for a three-year term until 2019.

Leonardia said the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has recognized the improved business climate in the city and listed Bacolod among the “most business-friendly cities” in the country in 2018.

He added that with the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) recognizing Bacolod as the “most competitive city in the Visayas” in the past year, the city government now intends to attract more investments and sustain the growth momentum.

Leonardia earlier said that part of his vision to make Bacolod very business-friendly is the setting up of the one-stop shop operations to ensure that business confidence is restored and a climate conducive for business and industry to grow and prosper is established.

This year’s business one-stop-shop, which caters to the renewal of business permits aimed at providing convenience and accessibility to taxpayers, started Jan. 3 and will run until Jan. 20 at the Bacolod City Government Center.

Stela Rose Rayos, head of the City Mayor’s Office-Permits and Licensing Division, said that as of Jan. 7, their office has released 138 renewed permits.

She noted that the processing of business permits this year is faster because the system is now fully automated, which makes the procedure easier.

Business taxpayers who pay in full within the period can avail of a 10-percent discount.

If the renewal period is not extended after Jan. 20, the taxpayers will be charged a 25-percent penalty, Rayos added. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1058124

BACOLOD CITY — The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) reported a decrease of 17.12 percent in its total crime volume from January 1 to December 31 last year.

Records showed that crimes declined by 583 from 3,406 in 2017 to 2,823 in 2018.

Index crimes, or crimes against person and property, dropped by 40.19 percent from 1,132 in 2017 to 677 last year.

These include the eight focus crimes of murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, car and motorcycle theft, which all decreased during the 12-month period.

Non-index crimes, or violations of special laws, decreased by 5.63 percent from 2,274 in 2017 to 2,146 in 2018.

Senior Supt. Francisco Ebreo, acting city police director, said in a press conference on January 3 the average monthly crime rate in Bacolod in 2018 was pegged at only 40.46 incidents compared to 48.82 in the previous year, which is reflected in the 17.12 percent decrease in the total crime volume.

Ebreo said this can be credited to the continuing operations against prevalent crimes, such as theft, physical injury, and robbery, which have a big impact on the community.

In 2018, theft cases decreased to only 261 from 450 in 2017 while incidents of physical injury dropped to 168 cases in 2018 from 253 in the previous year.

“We focused on these incidents, which we discussed weekly during our enhanced management police operations conference,” Ebreo said, adding that repeat offenders have also become the subject of police operations.

From January to December last year, the BCPO conducted 922 police-initiated operations, which were 62.9 percent higher than the 566 operations in 2017.

Ebreo also cited the support and cooperation of the city government and barangay officials in the anti-crime efforts of the police, as well as the increased public awareness of crime prevention. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1057921

BACOLOD CITY — Preparations for the 14th Bacolaodiat Festival to welcome the Chinese New Year in this city are underway.

This year’s Bacolaodiat, whose name originated from “Baco” for Bacolod and “Lao Diat,” a Fookien word for celebration, will be held on February 1 to 5.

The Lunar New Year will be celebrated on February 5, based on the traditional Chinese calendar, and 2019 will be the year of the Earth Pig.

Among the highlights of the five-day celebration is Bacolaodiat Lantern Dance Competition.

Eight groups have been chosen to participate, including the six that have passed the screening, organizers said.

These are Carlos Hilado Memorial State College-Alijis, Balow Dance Group, Granadianz, Double J Full Force, Choi Force, and Rustylian as well as last year’s champion, BMD, and first runner-up, Jojaju.

Competition judge Rudy Reveche, together with Bacolaodiat Parade coordinator Kim Chauven Villaluna, earlier discussed the guidelines with the representatives of the eight competing groups.

Meanwhile, the celebration kicks off with the traditional Dazzling Grand Parade led by the local Filipino-Chinese community and Chinese schools.

Other events include cultural events, nightly fireworks display, and lantern-making contest.

The Chopsticks Alley features Chinese food stalls and traditional cooking demos while the Imperial Village showcases Asian arts and crafts, such as calligraphy, wishing tree, and palm reading. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1057834

BACOLOD CITY — A total of 23,177 business establishments have been registered in this city from January to the last week of December in 2018, records of the City Mayor’s Office-Permits and Licensing Division showed.
The summary report, which covered registration until Dec. 27, 2018, was submitted by licensing officer Stela Rose Rayos to Mayor Evelio Leonardia.

This is 5.33 percent higher than the 22,004 establishments registered in the entire 2017, Rayos said.
The increase does not necessarily indicate only newly-opened businesses for 2018 since it also included renewals by establishments that were unable to register in previous years.
This year, the opening of the Ayala Malls Capitol Central in December largely contributed to the business registration in the city since each mall tenant was required to register, Rayos said.
Since 2012, records show that Bacolod has posted a steady increase in business registration.
The total number of business permits issued in 2012 was 18,959; 2013 (18,457); 2014 (18,606); 2015 (18,817); and 2016 (19,021).
In 2017, the City Mayor’s Office issued 22,004 business permits, 15.68 percent higher than the 19,021 approved in 2016.
Rayos said the setting up of the Business One-Stop-Shop has helped business owners fast-track the processing of their permits, allowing them to save time and money. For 2019, the operations will start on January 3.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia has said the setting up of the one-stop shop operations is part of his vision to make Bacolod very business-friendly.
“We wish to see that business confidence is restored and a climate conducive for business and industry to grow and prosper, is established,” Leonardia said. (PNA)
Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1057583

BACOLOD CITY — The City of Bacolod marked its 80th birthday as a chartered city in 2018 — a year of milestones and triumphs for its people.
From reaping awards to celebrating the world-renowned MassKara Festival graced by President Rodrigo Duterte for the third time, to seeing the rise of major real estate developments, to achieving a lower crime rate, it has indeed been a banner year for Bacolod.

Awards
The year 2018 has been the winningest year for the City of Smiles so far after being recognized for its achievements by various award-giving bodies.
In November, Mayor Evelio Leonardia received two top recognitions from the Asia Leaders Awards 2018.
Leonardia, who was the lone local government official nominee and awardee, was bestowed both the Lifetime Excellence Award for city governance, and the Mentor of the Year Award, while the City of Bacolod was also a finalist in the Tourism Company of the Year Award.
In December, Bacolod was first runner-up in the Excellence in Administrative Governance in the Department of the Interior and Local Government 6 (Western Visayas) Regional Search for Excellence in Local Governance.
A month earlier, Bacolod was recognized as the Most Competitive City in Western Visayas by the Regional Development Council.
In October, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry gave Bacolod a Special Citation for the Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit Awards under the City Level 1 category.
In August, Bacolod was awarded the eighth Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines, and third Most Improved Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines at the 6th Competitive Summit and Awards of the National Competitiveness Council.
In June, Bacolod was awarded first runner-up in The Manila Times’ Search for the Philippine Model Cities and Municipalities 2018.
80th year milestones
Bacolod highlighted the 39th MassKara Festival in October with the celebration of its 80th year as a chartered city.
Themed “Happy Birthday, Bacolod”, the 21-day festivities were capped by the arrival of Duterte, who graced the MassKara for the third consecutive time since he became Chief Executive in 2016.
Leonardia described the event as a “MassKara for the books,” with the biggest crowd ever, topped by the presence of the President and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte.
While the festival was ongoing, the MassKara dancers won the bronze medal at the World Mask Dance Competition 2018 in Andong City, South Korea on October 7.
In the first week of December, the Malacañang Records Office informed the mayor that Duterte had signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11146 declaring June 18, 1938 as the day Bacolod was created.
The new law corrected RA 7724 that initially set October 19 as the date for the celebration of the Bacolod City Charter Day. Starting next year, Bacolod will mark its Charter Day every June 18 as a special non-working holiday.
Leonardia thanked Duterte “for being instrumental in correcting the history of Bacolod.”
“The President will now be part and parcel of the history books of Bacolod City. This is one of the highlights of the 80th year celebration of Bacolod. History is now in its proper place,” the mayor added.
Among the other important events in Bacolod’s 80th year were the unveiling of the Bacolod Welcome Marker, Bacolod Historical Mural @ 80, and the unveiling of the architectural design for the PHP163-million “green” museum-auditorium design.
The Bacolod Welcome Marker, a 7.2-meter structure with colorful masks lighted up at night, is located at the boundary of the cities of Bacolod and Talisay. Inaugurated on November 26, the landmark, poised to become one of Bacolod’s tourism icons, was an idea of
Leonardia executed by Megaworld Corp. on a portion of its 53-hectare township development in the area.
On November 27 to 29, Bacolod also hosted the 2018 MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Convention, Exhibitions and Events) Conference or MICECON at SMX Convention Center and Resorts Negrense.
The three-day event gathered about 500 travel and tourism practitioners from airlines, hotels, resorts events and conventions industries across the Philippines along with those from the local government units and the organizers from the Tourism Promotions Board, Department of Tourism, and Bacolod Organizing Committee.
In October, the city government also unveiled the painted walls of the Bacolod Cemetery on Burgos Extension Road dubbed the “Bacolod Historical Mural @ 80”, which gives people a glimpse of the city’s history in the past decades of its existence.
Also in October, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is facilitating the funding for two-structure “green” museum-auditorium, said the construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019 and is expected to be completed in about two years.
In August, Leonardia awarded the first-ever Bacolod Halandumon Award to the heirs of Don Fernando and Doña Angela Gonzaga, who donated the property occupied by the Bacolod City Government Center that marked its 10th year.
Leonardia, who led the August 8 celebration dubbed “10 years of Fame and Glory” held at the Government Center’s MassKara Hall, said the structure has become “iconic” and has changed the face of Bacolod.
Major real estate developments
The year saw the rise of massive real estate developments in Bacolod, the latest of which was the PHP5.2-million Ayala Malls Capitol Central that opened on December 14.
The seven-level commercial establishment is the second mall development of Ayala Land, Inc.’s real estate subsidiary in Negros Occidental after The District North Point in neighboring Talisay City.
Capitol Central, located along Gatuslao St. behind the Provincial Capitol building, is the second largest Ayala Malls development in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The PHP5.2-billion project cost includes PHP5 billion for mall development and PHP200 million for an integrated business processing outsourcing facility.
Towards the end of July, property giant Megaworld announced the roll-out this year of its PHP28-billion The Upper East development in this city.
The masterplan for the 34-hectare township project, to be developed in the next 10 years, includes residential condominiums, shopping malls and commercial centers, mixed-use buildings, office towers, and hotels with facilities, including a transport hub, church, green and open parks and a central plaza.
The Upper East, situated a few blocks from the Bacolod City Government Center in the eastern side of the city, will be the first masterplanned mixed-use community in Bacolod that integrates the live-work-play components of an integrated urban township.
In April, listed property firm Cebu Landmasters, Inc. also announced it was rolling out three projects – a condominium, a hotel, and a residential subdivision worth PHP5 billion in Bacolod in the next five years.
Meanwhile, the construction of the three-tower MesaVirre Garden Residences located along Lacson St. in Barangay Bata is ongoing. In front of the condominium complex will rise a 200-room hotel by Citadines, a brand of Ascott Limited, an international serviced residence owner-operator.
The third project is a 15-hectare housing development in Barangay Granada.
Lower crime rate
The murder of a lawyer and a village chief and the attempt on the life of a city councilor marred the otherwise generally peaceful environment in the city in 2018.
However, police records showed a consistent decrease in the crime volume of Bacolod in the past 11 months this year.
In the first week of December, the Bacolod City Police Office reported a 23.32-percent decrease in crime volume from January to November this year.
Records showed a reduction of 793 crime incidents — from 3,400 in January to November 2017 to only 2,607 in the same period this year.
Index crimes, or crimes against persons and properties, dropped to 624, or by 44.88 percent — from 1,132 in the first 11 months last year. These comprise the eight focus crimes — murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, car and motorcycle theft — which all decreased from January to November this year.
Senior Supt. Francisco Ebreo, acting city police director, said the aim has always been to reduce the crime volume in Bacolod, especially the eight focus crimes that indicate the actual peace and order situation of a particular area. (PNA)
Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1056949