By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The Cooperative Development Authority-Region 6 (CDA-6) and the Iloilo Provincial Trade, Investment, and Cooperative Development Office (PTICDO) kicked off the celebration of the Cooperative Month 2021 last Oct. 1 at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol grounds.
The celebration of Cooperatives Month is in keeping with Republic Act No. 11502 which designated the National Cooperative Month in October annually to “conduct activities and programs that promote the principles and values of cooperatives and encourage cooperative movement.”
Prior to the statute, Proclamation No. 493 was issued by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003, designating the celebration “to encourage wider participation of all sectors of society in nation-building through cooperativism.”
With the theme “Kooperatibang Matatag: Tumutugon sa mga Hamon, Daan sa Pagbangon, Nagbibigay Pag-asa sa Makabagong Panahon!”, the month will be filled with activities which will help boost cooperatives and help promote cooperativism, including the following trainings and seminars:
– Pre-Membership Education Seminar by Miag-ao Farmers and Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Oct. 5);
– Leadership and Values Orientation Seminar by United Producers for Development of Iloilo (Oct. 7);
– Basic Accounting for Non-Accountants by Federation of Transport Cooperatives (Oct. 13 to 15);
– Fundamentals of Cooperatives by the PTICDO in partnership with the Western Visayas Alliance of Cooperatives (WVAC) and 1 Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines (1CISP) (Oct. 20 to 21);
– Meat Processing by the Municipality of Ajuy (Oct. 21 to 22);
– Governance and Management of Cooperatives by the PTICDo in partnership with WVAC and 1CISP (Oct. 25 to 26);
– Smoke Fish Processing by the Municipality of Tigbauan (Oct. 27 to 28); and
– Financial Management Seminar by Kooperatiba Nation Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Oct. 27 to 28).
Other activities include the 4th Quarter Iloilo Provincial Cooperatives Development Council Meeting (Oct. 8), the 10th National Tripartite Conference by the CDA (Oct. 15), and the Regional Cooperative Quiz Contest by the CDA-6 (Oct. 18).
CDA-6 Regional Director Nora Patron said during the launch that cooperatives have been more crucial amid the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
She cited cooperatives’ assistance to local governments and using development funds to buy food and protective equipment and materials for medical frontliners, among others.
She added that her priority ass the new CDA-6 chief is to go around and check the situation of cooperatives in the region, to push for sustainable development among cooperatives and their members.
“Over the years, especially in the pandemic time, we have seen cooperatives, in their own little way, support the community in the provision of assistance, not only in what our government provides but our cooperatives advance also to help frontliners’ provision of basic services,” Patron said.
Patron also touted the Iloilo provincial government’s “extensive” support for the cooperatives sector even before the approval of Rep. Act No. 11535, which provided for the mandatory appointment of a Cooperatives Development Officer (CDO) in local governments.
“The provincial government of Iloilo has been a big supporter of the cooperative program even before the approval of [R.A. 11535]. They have extended a lot of support to cooperatives, not only now, but years back. We owe this support from the Iloilo provincial government that they are advancing the cooperative program because they saw that the cooperative program is the mechanism needed by our people in the countryside,” she added.
PTICDO chief Atty. Arturo Cangrejo said that the provincial government considers the cooperatives sector as a “driving force” for economic growth in Iloilo province.
The total volume generated by cooperative businesses in the province has amounted to P16.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020, consisting of P5.4 billion in assets, P1.7 billion in paid-up capital, and P214.4 million in generated net surplus.
The office’s data also indicated that as of Dec. 31, 2020, there are 618 registered cooperatives in the province, of which 269 are tagged as “fully compliant” with the CDA’s requirements and standards.
Based on the type of accredited cooperative, most of them are Multi-Purpose (358), followed by Credit (38), Consumers (38), Marketing (37), Transport (28), Agrarian Reform (19), Producers (17), Agriculture (16), Federation-Secondary and Service (8 each), and Fishermen (3).
Health Service, Water Service, Cooperative Bank, and Workers types of cooperatives each have 1 accredited cooperative.
Cangrejo also stated that the PTICDO hopes the cooperatives movement “can continue to collaborate with local and national governments in contributing to the development of communities and the people”.
