Mandaue City gov’t employees to be “cooperativized”

Saying he believes that cooperatives can make positive changes in the lives of its members, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes happily noted that the city is well on its way to setting up an institution-based credit cooperative.

In an interview, Cortes said setting up a coop has been in the city’s drawing board for many decades even before he was elected mayor but for some reasons, it failed to take off. To ensure that it will be realized during his incumbency, he tasked the Mandaue City Cooperative Development Office to set up what he hoped would be a “legacy project”.

Mayor Cortes said that he wants to help city government employees become less vulnerable to loan sharks or money lenders who prey on state workers by charging them extremely high interest rates.

According to the local chief executive, the joke that goes around among city hall employees is “nabuhi kami tungod sa utang, dili tungod sa among suholan” (We survive on our debts, not on our salaries) but it is the sad reality, the mayor noted.

He hopes that in due time, city government employees will learn and adopt cooperative principles in their lives.

During the interview, Cortes received updates from Mandaue City Cooperative Development Officer Atty. Nenita Layese on the documentation of the cooperative.

Layese is currently conducting pre-membership education seminars PMES to the city government’s approximately 1,000 employees.

According to her, the coop will initially come up with fewer than 100 founding members in compliance with the regulatory body Cooperative Development Authority CDA regulations.

Meanwhile, the Mandaue City government is having discussions with Mandaue City Public Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative MAVENCO for a public-private partnership in the operation of the city’s slaughter house. MAVENCO has over P1 billion in aggregate assets.

In the past, the city slaughterhouse has been plagued with operational issues.

Cortes said he believes MAVENCO has the capability to handle the operation of the city slaughter house because of its vast resources and track record in helping Mandaue City public market vendors, MAVENCO’s core constituency.—Malou