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COOPERATIVES empower people.
Ever
since cooperatives were first introduced in the
Philippines at the end of the 19th century, they have
given shape and dimension to the concept of people
empowerment. Lives are improved and communities
prospered, especially in the countryside.
Cooperatives also thrive in productivity. Their core is
largely made up of people who promote the merit of
self-reliance. And this results in social economic
responsibility.
This is
the beauty of cooperatives. They level up the
member-contributors economically and uphold community
service and growth.
Indeed,
cooperatives play a vital role in the Philippine
economy. In 2003 cooperatives made a significant
contribution amounting to P517 billion, translating to
about 12.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP),
and provided direct and indirect employment to more than
1.7 million Filipinos.
However,
we cannot deny that many of our cooperatives fail to
sustain their operations and eventually collapse. Data
from the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)
revealed that out of 76,000 registered cooperatives
nationwide, only 25,000 are actively in operation. This
is caused by a number of reasons, most common of which
include mismanagement, failure of some cooperatives to
secure adequate capital, and defective credit policies.
This
should not discourage people. There is need for them to
intensify their efforts to help the cooperative
movement. The initiatives for improvement should emanate
from them, especially in rural areas where declining
education, unemployment, chronic hunger, poverty and
lack of health services are more evident. These social
ills take away the inherent right of the people to a
fair and decent life.
We can
make full use of the power of cooperatives to help the
people rise above these challenges.
Now,
this brings us to agricultural cooperatives. Every type
of cooperative is just as important as another. Given
that our country is still largely agricultural, and
cooperatives serve mostly those in the countryside where
farming is dominant, I find the role of agricultural
cooperatives highly relevant and crucial.
About 70
percent of the country’s total population is rural,
two-thirds of which depend on farming for their
livelihood. In terms of employment, about one-half of
our labor force is engaged in agricultural activities.
According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), this
sector grew 3.5 percent in the first half of 2007. This
is significantly slower than the 5.24-percent growth
experienced in the first half of 2006, but the sluggish
performance was due to the dry spell brought about by El
Nińo. Nonetheless, the DA continues to help farmers
recover their losses, particularly in the implementation
of quick-turnaround schemes for rice and corn.
The
business activities and scope of agricultural
cooperatives in the Philippines cover agribusiness
functions like input supply, production, postharvest,
processing and marketing, as well as credit and
financing. To me, this puts them in the best position to
help our farmers and promote local agriculture.
I have
always believed that a sustained growth in the
agricultural sector will result in a stable national
economy. And by supporting our farmers through
cooperative endeavors, we can transform agriculture into
a modern, dynamic and competitive sector.
In the
Senate, we are preparing to enact legislative measures
designed to help the cooperative movement. Five bills,
to date, have been filed to amend Republic Act 6938,
otherwise known as the Cooperative Code. The latest one
is Senate Bill 1553, entitled “An Act Amending the
Cooperative Code of The Philippines to be known as the
Philippine Cooperative Code Of 2007.”
These
bills seek to strengthen existing and future
cooperatives on the areas of organizational management
and capability-building to help them achieve sustained
economic growth.
Other
important cooperative-related legislative measures of
the Senate are:
• SB
841, establishing a P5-billion cooperative trust fund
that will provide financing facilities to livelihood
programs of cooperatives and appropriating the necessary
sum for inclusion in the General Appropriations Act over
a period of five consecutive fiscal years in five equal
apportionments;
• SB
508, which aims to restore the tax-exemption privileges
of electric cooperatives created under PD 269, otherwise
known as the National Electrification Administration
Decree, amending Sections 193 and 234 (d) of RA 7160,
otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991;
and
• SB
428, which seeks to tap cooperatives in addressing the
country’s housing problem.
In
addition, there are three bills directly related to
amend the Charter of the CDA, or RA 6939. SB 47, 840 and
610 collectively aim to provide the regulatory framework
to further the growth of cooperatives nationwide. This
is in keeping with the terms embodied in the Medium-Term
Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP 2004-2010) as CDA and
other stakeholders shall be pushed in order to implement
an effective regulation and supervision of cooperatives.
These
Senate legislative measures are designed to fortify
people’s faith in the cooperative movement, encourage
them to pursue further training and undertake constant
expansion, help their cooperatives empower members, and
make a difference not only in their respective
communities, in particular, but also in society, in
general.
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