The co-op month in the Philippines is celebrated every October. As expected, co-op month celebrations and other activities are scheduled this whole month in every region and every province all over the country. In fact, we have already seen posted in social media some activities that signify that co-op month celebration is in the air. And there are lot of things to celebrate for. At least in our region.
There are some performing co-ops worth commending. One co-op attained a large status (100 Million plus in assets) in La Trinidad, another co-op became a billionaire in Ifugao and then another co-op reached the 2Billion asset in La Trinidad. Of course, these are not the only ones who performed tremendously. There are many more achievements from various co-ops all over the Cordillera Region.
Meanwhile, these various celebrations started while we were on training for the e-coopRIS. It stands for Electronic Coop Registration Information System. This is the electronic processing of submission and approval of registration. This means, registration of new co-ops, amendments, laboratory co-ops, branches and satellite offices will soon be online. It is intended to recalibrate the CDAs processes in consonance with the Ease of Doing Business Law.
The process is that the client can submit the application for registration anywhere and does not encounter the difficulties, such as the traffic and the time and cost of travel due to distance, of going to the CDA Regional Office. Under the present system, it takes time to manually evaluate the application and then there is no assurance that it will be approved. So, there is a possibility of going back and forth to the CDA Office. With this new system, it seems to be convenient and hassle free. You just have internet connectivity and basic knowledge in technology.
That is at the same time, the downside of this new innovation. Internet is not strong in most remote areas and the most people there are not that technologically literate. So, in anticipation of this problem, the proponents of this new system are looking for remedial measures.
Going back to our topic on co-op month, this electronic processing of registration is one of the things to celebrate. This is a levelling up of our service to the public. This is seen as facilitating and fast tracking the registration of co-ops. The application will be evaluated, corrected and approved online. Once approved, the client will print the Articles and ByLaws and submit it to the Regional Office for the issuance of the Certificate of Registration if everything is in order.
Another cause for celebration this year is the strengthening and reorganization of the CDA. This means more personnel. Technical assistance will be more focused since co-ops will be clustered as to industry. Personnel will be assigned to each cluster so that the assistance will be more effective and monitoring will be more regular.
With that, happy cooperative month to all!
