Mainstream media together with government information officers gathered Tuesday at an uptown hotel to interact with the top echelon of the Co-operative Development Authority, which for the first time in more than five years converged with a full board of administrators and a new chairman.
I wrote about newly-appointed CDA Chairman Orlando Ravanera in a previous column and the title, “New Man at the Helm of Co-op Development Agency” was a bit misleading because strictly speaking, Ravanera is not new in CDA having served as its executive director during the time of Chairman Emmanuel Santiaguel. Politics was said to be behind his being “kicked downstairs” or reverted back to his post in Region 10 but that is now water under the bridge.
I’m glad to note that state media will be sharpening its tools in reporting and mainstreaming stories about co-operatives. 2015 is the centenary of the movement which is often referred to as the third sector in the equation composed of the public and private sectors. In fact, President Aquino has many times leaned on co-ops to push his anti-poverty agenda but unless it is matched by an aggressive media campaign via the government portal, this would all amount to rhetoric.
The gathering then of the state and mainstream media through the efforts of the CDA under its new chief is, although quite late in the day, still very much a step in the right direction.
“Will wonders never cease?” I told Ravanera as I exchanged pleasantries with him and administrator Mercedes “Ched” Castillo after the media conference. He laughed over my remark maybe because he didn’t expect a Cebu-based journalist to be somewhat privy to the political nuances of his appointment.
Over lunch, I posed the “killer question”: With antagonists like big business who are mad over your high-profile stance in the Agus-Pulangui controversy, how were you able to swing the support of President Aquino?
Ravanera didn’t evade the question. In fact, he filled me in on another angle which he thought would make his appointment akin to climbing a high mountain: the influence of influential people involved in illegal logging activities in northern Mindanao. The massive illegal logging, according to Ravanera, nets P360-million a year and is enough for the syndicate to make or break a candidate in an election.
But according to Ravanera who was able to get the support of the Jesuits in Cagayan de Oro who have known him for a long time and are familiar with his work in people’s organizations and his fierce anti-illegal logging drive. He has practically put his life on the line but he has also earned the backing of many sectors including the Lumads or indigenous people whose vote of confidence for Ravanera reached Malacañang.
If I heard him right, it appears P-Noy sought the advice of his mentors in the Ateneo University as he grapples with the outpouring of resentment over his handling of the Mamasapano affair. The Jesuits reportedly urged him to appoint men of integrity to strategic agencies who will make a difference in the lives of the people not to mention in the President’s flagging popularity.
If the new CDA chief is lucky, he will get a chance to dialogue with Pres. Aquino on a topic that he is most passionate about: co-operatives as the road to peace in Mindanao.
Some people might laugh at this advocacy but Ravanera is positive the 3 million-strong co-op members can counter the threat of 3,000 MILF combatants by talking peace, not in
Malaysia, but in Mindanao. In other words, the President has to reset the peace negotiations.
At a time when P-Noy is running out of options to turn the public mood around, he has no choice but to consider the third sector. My unsolicited advice to the President: you can never go wrong with co-operatives.
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“Co-op TV” over CCTN Channel 47 is gaining traction with the partnership recently inked by the Catholic TV network and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. RAFI Triennial Awards RTA. The partnership will highlight previous RTA winners and laureates through a special monthly edition, wherein they share their best practices.
The United Nations Education, Scientific Cooperation UNESCO defines best practices as having four common characteristics: they are innovative, they make a difference, they have a sustainable effect and they have the potential to be replicated to serve as a model for generating initiatives elsewhere.
Co-ops thrive in best practices. This is the secret to the sector’s unprecedented growth in the last decade as illustrated by its collective contribution in the global socio-economic development particularly on poverty reduction, employment generation and inclusive growth.
To open up the special edition which will be regularly seen every last Saturday of the month, “Co-op TV” will revisit the Lamac Multi-Purpose Co-operative – RTA’s first outstanding institution awardee. God at the center of the business enterprise is this week’s peg of “Co-op TV.”
As co-producer of the co-op advocacy program, I am humbled and proud to share in RAFI’s work of cultivating and nurturing strong leadership, good citizenship and governance in the grassroots.
Heartfelt thanks to RAFI CEO Dominica Chua, Evelyn Nacario-Castro, Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center executive director and their very cooperative staff, Haide Emee Palapar, Liz Baumgart and Roxanne Catalan.
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