Every October is co-op month. As far as the co-op sector is concerned, there is no other exciting activity than the co-op month celebration itself. This is when co-op leaders, members and other stakeholders meet not only for fun but for educational purposes as well. There is one other thing they look forward to. It is the report on the status of co-operatives in the region and other updates from the CDA.
One of the those that generate interest is when the CDA reports to the sector how far the co-ops have improved and prospered in an economy of limited opportunities. Another is the top ten co-ops in the region as far as asset is concerned. Who made it on that list? Who graduated from micro to small, small to medium and medium to large? And many other interesting information such as; the fastest growing co-op, the one with the most number of branches, employees etc.
One significant information that I would reveal this early is the increase in the number of large co-ops from 26 a year ago to 30 at present. This is quite impressive considering that it is not easy to become a large co-op. A large co-op is one that have at least 100 million pesos in total asset.
Co-ops can celebrate the co-op month on their own but there is what they call cooperation among co-operatives that is why celebration is done either at the municipal, provincial, regional and even at the national level.
The co-op month celebration is not only to be informed about interesting facts and figures. This is also a perfect venue to ventilate and discuss pressing issues such the CISA or the Credit Information Systems Act that is met with stiff resistance from the sector and the Tax Exemption Certificate which is becoming more difficult to obtain at BIR as the days go by.
These and other matters will surely be tackled during this year’s regional co-op month celebration, which is hosted by Benguet Province on October 27-28, 2016 at the Wangal Sports Complex, Wangal, La Trinidad with the theme, CO-OPERATIVES: The Catalyst of Change Through Poverty Eradication and Social Transformation.
