MANILA - Dumaguete, dubbed as "the city of gentle people," lived up to its reputation after it was named as the country's top retirement spot for foreigners for 2018.

The Philippine Retirement Authority said Dumaguete scored 87.48 percent in their Retirement Area Deemed as Retiree-Friendly (RADAR) index.

The RADAR index measures a place's compliance with global standards set by organizations like the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and International Living.

"Ang sinasabi nila, napaka-friendly ng mga tao. Every local daw ay madaling kausap kasi marunong mag-English," said Mervin Magbuhat, PRA's marketing head, told ABS-CBN News.

(The retirees would always say the people in the city are very friendly and you can talk to the locals easily because almost all of them can speak in English.)

The PRA report added that Dumaguete proves to be an affordable haven for foreign retirees, with numerous leisure and entertainment venues around town.

The city also has sufficient, accessible and safe open and public spaces for a variety of activities, the PRA noted, adding that many areas are handicap-friendly.

Dumaguete was the second to receive PRA's recognition since the award was first given to Makati in 2012. In 2014, Forbes magazine recognized the city as the fifth best place to retire in the world.

THe PRA is a government-owned and -controlled corporation mandated to develop and promote the Philippines as retirement haven. It also issues Special Resident Retiree's Visa to foreigners.

Dumaguete is home to 255 of the 374 foreign retirees PRA has recorded in Negros Oriental.