BAGUIO CITY – In response to the calls from cooperatives to extend the deadlines for the submission of borrowers’ basic credit data in compliance with Republic Act No. 9510, the Cooperative Insurance Corporation (CIC) has extended the deadlines by seven months. Previously pegged for October and November 2016 for Medium and Large Cooperatives respectively, the deadlines for submission have been moved to June 30, 2017.
“The cooperatives are critical participants in the national financial ecosystem and front liners in the goal to enable greater access to credit for medium-scale firms and medium enterprises,” CIC President and CEO Garchitorena was quoted as saying. “Cooperatives are one of the lending institution types that are closest to many of the under- and un-served sections of the Philippine economy, and the CIC will do whatever it can to enable cooperatives in achieving greater and safer cooperative lending practices,” he further assured.
The CIC chief also positively reacted to the statements of Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. during the Provincial Cooperative Month celebration in Paracelis recently.
“Governor Lacwasan said it best when he noted that cooperatives should look beyond just the benefit of its members but the entire community,” Garchitorena said.
In his speech, Lacwasan emphasized that “cooperatives exist to correct humanity’s tendency towards individualism–or the motivation for personal gain. In place of individualism, cooperatives advocate the advancement of the interests of every member, not just a few” and stressed that “the success of a cooperative should be measured by how much the people in the community that host it are equally progressive, whether or not they are members of the cooperative.”
The Governor also pointed out that many cooperatives have gone bankrupt due to mismanagement.
“The Credit Information Systems offers cooperatives and their members, not just a risk management tool but a tool to promote transparency within the industry. The data that will be submitted to the CIC is limited only to the cooperative members who obtained loan from their respective cooperatives.” Garchitorena concluded.
This statement and the adjustment of timelines and deliverables by the cooperatives in compliance with the law were responses to the appeal and request of primary cooperatives and their federations, citing lack of resources to comply within the previously published deadlines.
According to Atty. Aileen L. Amor-Bautista, SVP for Business Development and Communications at the CIC, the initial deadlines were set in consultation with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). “The CIC, being a new government-owned and controlled corporation, had no clear view on the technological capabilities of the cooperatives so we consulted with the CDA which is the agency tasked to regulate cooperatives. Discussions with the CDA helped us decide to onboard the Large and Medium cooperatives first with Small and Micro-Cooperatives not included in the submission deadline until we understand their limitations better” she said.
However, even after consulting with the CDA, and due to other emerging concerns that cooperatives could still not comply within the deadlines, cooperative federations approached the CIC to petition for an extension. “It is fortunate for us that Mr. Hamilcar Rotaquio , Chairman of the Philippine Cooperative Center, is also a board member of the CIC,” continued Atty. Bautista; “he arranged a dialogue consultation between the CIC and large federations which included the Philippine Cooperative Central Fund Federation, Philippine Federation of Credit Cooperatives, VICTO National, and PFCCO National, where the CIC began to understand the situation with greater clarity. At the end of the meeting, the new deadlines were set. Everyone was satisfied with the result of that meeting.”
The result of that meeting was CIC Circular No. 2016-04, providing for the extension of the deadlines for submission of data of large and medium cooperatives.
The CIC is also having its Credit Infrastructure Roadshow on October 26, 2016 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City. Since early this year, CIC has been going around the country to bring its Credit Infrastructure Roadshow Series to lenders, such as cooperatives. The roadshows are basically designed to introduce CIC and the credit information system to the participants, as well as inform them of their technical compliance with the credit information system.
By HENT
