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Veneracion said criteria include services extended to the members, community involvement, and networking with government agencies.
Aside from GenSan, the other finalists for Mindanao were the cities of Davao, Iligan and Butuan, he said.
The award came amidst the controversy caused by the Davao chamber’s bolting out of the PCCI. Romeo Serra, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council, resigned as PCCI vice president for Mindanao.
He said his chamber’s disaffiliation from the national chamber “will have a snowballing effect” as he claimed that 16 other chambers in Mindanao will follow suit.
Veneracion, however, clarified that the GenSan group would not follow the Davao chamber. “We have no plans to bolt PCCI. There’s no discussion among the members to that effect,” he said.
Among the members of the GenSan chamber are six tuna processors and other companies engaged in the fishing industry, which provide direct and indirect employment to at least 100,000 people.
In the last few years, GenSan was also recognized for the dynamism of its business sector, named as among the most competitive cities by the Asian Institute of Management.