Zubiri: Cooperatives raise P42 Billion in total assets through self-help

"Self-help as economic self-defense propelled cooperatives to help Juan de la Cruz attain social justice and economic development. With total assets now worth more than P42 Billion from 74,809 cooperatives nationwide, cooperatives will play increasingly crucial roles in the economy," said Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri who faces interpellation today on the Committee Report 51 recommending amendments to the Cooperative Code.

The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) which regulates cooperatives reports that since 1990 up to June 30, 2007, 74,809 cooperatives have been registered with them, s follows: 4,812 Credit Cooperatives engaged in savings and credit operations; 1,369 Consumer Cooperatives, mostly in public and private offices and schools;1,409 Producers Cooperatives: 911 Marketing Cooperatives; 1,806 Service Cooperatives, providing power distribution, potable water and irrigation system, public and private transportation service; and, 60,000 registered s Multi-Purpose Cooperatives, which are divided into Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Cooperatives.

"Cooperatives are economic vehicles that encourage self-reliance among the basic sectors, democratize the ownership of the means of production, and provide our people a bulwark for economic self-defense in the face of spiraling oil and commodity prices. They were organized by the masses because the local oligarch or the multinational company simply chose to by-pass the localities where most of the poorest Filipinos live. Organized from need, the cooperatives empowered the many," Zubiri said in his sponsorship speech.

"They helped our democracy mature from 1987 onwards. As the Philippines moved away from the centralized authoritarian government of martial-law era, cooperatives also graduated from the top-down mode of management to the bottoms-up style. The amendments would enhance those democratizing features of cooperatives as well as increase transparency and accountability among officers and manages of the cooperatives."

Zubiri acknowledged the great contributions of Senators Butz Aquino, Heherson Alvarez, Juan Ponce-Enrile and the true cooperative specialist, Senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel who framed Republic Act 6938, passed in 1990 for laying the ground on which thousands of cooperatives bloomed.

Zubiri likewise acknowledged the support of the Committees on Finance; Ways and Means; Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies; Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement; Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws during our more than 10 public hearings, technical working group meetings and consultative meetings. Likewise, Senator Rodolfo Biazon, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., Senate President Manny Villar who similarly proposed amendments to the Cooperative Code.

"Although there are many registered cooperatives, a good number of them have fallen by the wayside, and are either dissolved, in the process of dissolution or cancellation. Again, according to the statistics gathered, more than two-thirds of the registered cooperatives have remained operational."

Zubiri noted the "critical impact of cooperatives in terms of asset base, jobs generation and delivery of basic goods and vital services to millions of Filipinos especially families belonging to the low-income brackets."

He said the cooperatives have grown to the extent that "century cooperatives" with over PhP100 million to PhP3.7 billion in assets, individually including that of the smaller ones totaled to more than PhP42 billion as of December 31, 2006.

"Cooperatives generate full time and part-time employment. The entire cooperative sector has generated 1.498 million jobs in 2004, 1.563 million jobs in 2005 or with an increase of about 65,215 over 2004 figures; and 1.636 million jobs as of December 31, 2006 with an increase of 73,047 jobs over 2005."

He reported that "45 farmer-owned cooperative banks nationwide ensure that farmers' surplus and savings from their production and marketing cooperatives are not siphoned off by commercial banks to urban uses. We have Credit Cooperatives who through their low-interest loans and micro-financing programs empower our women to be productive entrepreneurs and community builders. Also present in the urban areas, they have helped employees go into productive loans and have served as a safety net in difficult times."

"Similarly, 119 Electric Cooperatives have energized 8 million rural households. They went into areas where the large, for- profit, investor-owned utilities ignored because these rural communities were deemed unprofitable or economically non-viable. And, yet, they brought increased choices to our communities and not just lighted up the barangays, but made possible the economic upsurge in areas such as General Santos, Tagum, and Sultan Kudarat."

Other types of cooperatives are also enjoying tremendous growth and patronage, such as: Housing Cooperatives providel affordable housing; Medical Cooperatives shield them from exorbitant medical costs; Biofuels Cooperatives to ensure our energy security in a clean environment; and Consumer Cooperatives to ensure the sale of rice and other basic necessities at prices lower than the groceries and sari-sari stores.

Zubiri said the new mandates of the cooperatives "will closely follow the template of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), the largest independent, non-governmental organization in the world which unites, represents and serves cooperatives worldwide that demands of the cooperatives the practice of not just financial audit but social audit as well."

Other amendments are: mandatory pre-organization training on the dynamics of cooperativism to ensure correct member orientation and loyalty to the cooperative; increase of the capitalization of primary cooperatives from Php2,000 to Php30,000; allowing all associate members (non-voting, preferred shareholders) to become regular members after a year; the delegation of powers to a representative assembly which is a smaller group of members to whom the general assembly has delegated its powers; complaints filed can be filed with the CDA for voluntary arbitration and appealable to the Office of the President; equitable distribution of the net surplus to distribute the shares; the institution of a reserve fund for difficult times, an education fund for research and development, and product innovation in an ever fast-changing competitive environment.

Zubiri said the proposed amendments will prevent abuses of manager-dominated or board-dominated cooperatives and assure greater management flexibility and faster management response systems.

Zubiri also wants electric cooperatives to be true cooperatives. "The now debt-free electric cooperatives are to realize full and complete ownership by their member-consumer households. Since the EPIRA freed the cooperatives from billions of its debts, it is now time to ensure that it is the member-consumer who through the general assembly becomes the true source of power. This will make the cooperative managers more accountable to the consumers, create greater transparency in operations, and result to lower electricity rates because of cooperative tax exemption privileges."

Zubiri lauded cooperatives for the various functions they serve. "It is the function of a cooperative to shorten the distance between a farmer and his market, to bridge the need for cheap credit and a worthwhile livelihood project, to close the distance between a patient and the healthcare he deserves, to bring together a family and their dream of having a home,

to ensure affordable transport, safe and potable water, and reliable electricity, and to ensure a far more equitable and far more decent society by making economic empowerment accessible to the many."