Co-op muscle

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III showed he has a soft spot for the cooperative sector when the provincial government hosted the forum on the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9520 a.k.a. Cooperative Code of 2008.

Conducted by the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Cooperatives (JCOCC) in collaboration with the Cooperative Development Authority, the event held last June 18 drew some 500 cooperative and federation leaders from Regions 6 and 7.

The JCOCC is going on a roadshow to disseminate the salient points in the revised guidelines.  The turnout at the Capitol Social Hall was quite impressive—425 coop enterprises and federations representing some 3 million members.

I thought Governor Davide would just deliver a “hit and run” kind of welcome remarks and leave after the ceremonial function, but he managed to insert certain co-op issues in his speech.  I think he picked up feedback from his engagement with the consortium of provincial cooperatives.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have some depth when he talked about matters in the classification, trainings and registration of co-ops.

Davide asked the regulatory body and Congress to look into the classification of cooperatives because confusion arises when obligations are lumped with assets in the determination of the co-op’s size and strength.

The governor also touched on mandatory training requirements, a common pet peeve among self-help organizations because they take a toll on their meager resources.  But he stressed that because trainings are tools for capacity building, they should be viewed as capital expenditure, not expense.  He also urged CDA to revisit its guidelines on the required number of members for start-ups because 15 may not be sufficient if the organization has to fill up all the positions required by the regulatory body.

The provincial executive’s familiarity with co-op issues related is matched by his administration’s commitment of P3 million to the wealth-creation mechanism called Credit Surety Fund.  The Central Bank’s concept of pooling the sector’s resources with those of the local government units and state banks enable cooperative members to borrow from the CSF for livelihood projects.

The financial gap in the sector happens when small entrepreneurs cannot borrow from their own co-ops because of its financial limitations.  On top of these, Capitol offers a subsidy in the free use of the Social Hall for co-op events and milestones.

Also present during the JCOCC forum was Mark Lapid, CEO of Tourism Economic Zone Authority, TIEZA.  The improvement to the roads leading to barangay Lamac in Pinamungajan is assured of P80 million, thanks to TIEZA which certified the necessity of  paved roads leading to barangay Lamac, home of the showcase Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative and the Hidden Valley Resort and Wave Pool.

I used to think that the Lapids are less than savvy politicians but with them actively working to secure benefits for the sector, I think they are wiser than people think they are.

The revision in the guidelines of the bible of cooperatives is a mandate of Congress.  The IRRs were actually crafted some three years after the law was enacted, but Congresss was pressured to revisit the law owing to mounting complaints especially from micro and small co-ops who view the IRRs as fit only for large and wealthy cooperatives.

Too many mandated trainings, piles of documentation work and penalties if they are not submitted on time had the effect of stunting if not killing small enterprises—summed up the travails of stakeholders.  I think Congress leaders like Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Lito Lapid and Rep.  Cres Paez feared a backlash in the next elections if they ignored the pleadings of the sector.

The JCOCC had the Revised IRRs published in a national newspaper last June 29 which means it will become effective on July 20.  The revisions did not fully address all concerns, but, in the words of my friend Romil Banzuelo, chairman of the Landbank Employees Credit Cooperative, the thought that Congress and CDA worked tirelessly for more than two years to revise and promulgate the revisions and more importantly, tailor it to fit the needs of 18,000 micro and small organizations means that policy makers are looking after the welfare of 13 million members.

And that really makes me wonder why the co-op population does not use its muscle in Congress and in the Executive branch by getting enough funds for the growth and development of the sector.

CDA can barely keep up with its meager budget of P360 million.  I heard a division in the Department of Agriculture has a bigger budget than CDA.

It’s about time the 13 million co-op members create a strong lobby not only to demand its fair share of the national budget but also to ask those running for public office what they have done for the movement of the people.