Cadiz City’s reclassification to a first class component city by the Department of Finance (DOF) is a big leap, Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said on Sunday, Dec. 8.
“This is more a prestige, rather a tribute to all Cadizeños who worked hard in making Cadiz truly a business-friendly community”, the mayor said.
To be a first class component city, the DOF guidelines state that a local government unit must have a consolidated annual income of at least P1.3 billion.
The income combination must come from both national tax allocation (NTA) and local revenue sources.
Cadiz surpassed this basic criterion, a press release from the city said.
This year, it had more than P1.4 billion in annual income that already included the more than P116 million in local taxes, the mayor said.
The City Treasurer’s Office also exceeded its local revenue target by more than 48 percent, a manifestation that businesses are currently mushrooming around the city, a press release from Cadiz said.
“We have a healthy and vibrant economy right now,” Escalante said.
Escalante attributed Cadiz’s “big leap” to the city government’s technology-driven and people-centered policies in advocating business-friendly initiatives free from red tape, the press release said.
Cadiz has an 11-minute policy in the issuance and renewal of business permits.
Escalante said there is no substitute to being friendly with all the investors that are coming and signifying to invest in Cadiz, dubbed as “The Land of Splendid Opportunities.”
Cadiz is home to the 132.5-megawatt (MW) Helios Solar Philippines, the biggest solar farm in Southeast Asia so far, that is forecasted to increase its NTA by P400 million next year, the press release said.*