Lawmakers pushing for mandatory fund for coops

Cooperatives sector representatives in Congress are pushing for the mandatory allocation of two percent of the development fund of each of the local government unit to cooperatives.

Coop-NATCCO Partylist Representative Sabiniano Canama said that House Bill No. 6380 is now pending in the Committee on Local Government since it was filed on September 11, 2017.

The bill is authored by Canama, Coop-NATCCO Partylist Rep. Anthony Bravo and AGAP Partylist Rep. Rico Geron, the only lawmakers representing the cooperatives sector.

At present there are 24,652 cooperatives registered in the Philippines based on a December 2014 report from the Cooperatives Development Authority.

Section 287 of the Local Government Code of 1991 provides that each LGU shall appropriate in its annual budget no less than 20 percent of its annual internal revenue allotment (IRA) for development projects.

The bill seeks to require each LGU to allot cooperatives two percent of its appropriation for development projects.

“This support for the growth of cooperatives is in recognition of the importance of cooperatives as practical vehicles for promoting self-reliance and empowering people towards the attainment of economic development and social justice,” read the proposed bill.

Canama has lauded the effort of the provincial government of Cebu in providing support to the cooperatives through the creation of the Cebu Province Association of Accredited Cooperatives.

He said Cebu is also the first in the country to allocate a building for cooperatives.

Canama attended yesterday the opening of the Cooperatives Consciousness Week Celebration of the Province of Cebu.

Provincial Board Member Thaddeus Sybico, chairman of the committee on cooperatives, said he has been pushing to strengthen the cooperatives in the province after he found out nobody has taken care of the sector before.

“We've come a long way,” Sybico said.

Sybico authored the ordinance declaring the last week of October of every year as Cooperatives Consciousness Week in the Province of Cebu.