What makes cities and municipalities ready to become smart cities?
This question defined the atmosphere at the Manila Hotel on Nov. 14, 2025, as The Manila Times honored the country’s top local government units (LGUs). While the event celebrated model cities and municipalities, the underlying current of the discussion was the urgent transition from standard good governance to data-driven “Smart City” status.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, receiving top honors yet again, set the tone for this national conversation.
“By embracing the voices of our people and ensuring that our strategies are based on evidence and comprehensive studies can we continue to overcome challenges like urban decay,” Magalong told the audience of mayors, planners and industry leaders. “Good governance goes beyond fighting corruption; it is about empowerment, patience and authentic leadership.”
Magalong’s statement dismantles the common misconception that a smart city is merely about installing CCTV cameras or high-speed Wi-Fi. Instead, the 2025 Model Cities awards highlighted that the true prerequisite for smart technology is institutional integrity. As Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Marlo Iringan emphasized during the ceremony, “To become a first-world country, we need to pursue transparency and accountability. We cannot hope for progress if corruption persists.”
The path to becoming a total smart city remains fraught with challenges, primarily in urban design and connectivity.
Renowned urban planner Felino Palafox Jr. reminded the awardees that technology cannot fix bad planning. Sensors on a gridlocked, unnavigable road do not solve the traffic; they only measure the misery.
This is where the private sector steps in to bridge the gap. George Royeca, CEO of the motorcycle-hailing giant Angkas, highlighted the role of mobility applications in the smart city ecosystem. He pointed out that private sector data — from ride-hailing speeds to logistics patterns — can help LGUs manage traffic more effectively than government assets alone.
From intuition to evidence
Baguio City is primary use case study for this evolution. Its award as a model city — known for cleanliness and order — only solidifies its potential to become a fully operational smart city.
The city’s Smart City Command Center has become the gold standard for LGUs. It goes beyond simple surveillance; it integrates the Smart Urban Mobility (SUM) system, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze traffic flow and detect violations in real-time. Furthermore, the city has deployed Project Minerva, a sensor network that monitors air quality and ground stability — a critical survival tool for a mountain city prone to landslides. By using data to predict and prevent disasters rather than just reacting to them, Baguio has proven that technology is the ultimate tool for public service.
The industrial engines of Laguna
For the thriving industrial corridor of Laguna, represented by the award-winning cities of Calamba, Biñan and Cabuyao, the drive toward becoming “Smart Cities” is fueled by economics. These cities host the massive technoparks that power the Philippine manufacturing sector. For them, being “smart” means removing friction for investors.
Calamba City has led this charge with its digital governance initiatives. Its “CalamBago” program and the full implementation of the Electronic Business One-Stop Shop (eBOSS) have digitized the bureaucracy. By allowing multinational corporations to process permits and taxes without face-to-face interaction, Calamba reduces the human discretion that leads to corruption — fulfilling Undersecretary Iringan’s call for transparency through code.
Meanwhile, Biñan and Cabuyao are pioneering “Smart resilience.” Both cities have adopted the Universal Structural Health Evaluation and Recording system. These 24/7 sensor networks monitor the structural integrity of government buildings and critical infrastructure during seismic activity. For an industrial hub, this offers a layer of economic security that manual inspections cannot match.
Small towns, big data
The awards also showcased that a municipality need not be a metropolis to be smart. The winners proved that technology can be applied to specific niches like education, agriculture and tourism.
Balanga City in Bataan was recognized for its “University Town” vision. While other cities buy hardware, Balanga invests in “human software.” By partnering with the private sector for initiatives like “AI-in-a-Box,” the city is upskilling its students and government workers. They operate on the premise that a smart city is useless without smart citizens to run it.
Similarly, the municipality of Los Baños is leveraging its status as a science hub to become a “Smart Agriculture Community.” Through the integration of Project Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture, the LGU utilizes satellite data and AI to provide local farmers with real-time crop advice, blending traditional farming with space-age technology.
In the Visayas, Palompon, Leyte, is using smart principles for conservation. Famous for Kalanggaman Island, the municipality utilizes digital booking systems to strictly enforce “carrying capacity.” By using data to limit tourist entry, they ensure the economic longevity of their natural resources, proving that “Smart Tourism” is sustainable tourism.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Raymond Gregory Tribdino
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: The Manila Times, 21.11.2025
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