BAGUIO CITY The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance institutionalizing the celebration of Cooperative Month every October in the city and providing funds for the activities that will be lined up for the said event.
The proposed ordinance authored by Vice Mayor Edison R. Bilog stated the conduct of the Cooperative Month celebration every October in the city is provided under Presidential Proclamation No. 493, series of 2003 but there is a need to institutionalize the said celebration to allow the greater participation of cooperatives in the different parts of the city.
The ordinance mandates the allocation of the amount of P100,000 from the city’s annual budget of the City Mayor’s Office under the Cooperative Development Council or any fund allocation to bankroll activities that will be lined up for the celebration and this shall form part of the annual budget of the city every year.
However, the ordinance cited the annual allocation may be adjusted as may be required by the various activities that will be lined up by the local government for the annual celebration of Cooperative Month.
Presidential Proclamation No. 493 series of 2003 declared the month of October 2004 and every year thereafter as Cooperative Month and mandated the entire cooperative movement nationwide to annually celebrate cooperative month every October.
Further, the presidential issuance also encouraged wider participation of all sectors of society in nation-building through cooperativism.
Memorandum Circular No. 2013-01 or the revised guidelines in the organization, structure and operation of the Cooperative Development Councils of the Cooperative Development Authority, Office of the President, reiterated that the organization of the councils shall embody and highlight the partnership and resource-sharing between the cooperative sector and the government sector.
The celebration of the Cooperative Month in the city has always been initiated by the Baguio City Cooperative Development Council which is a tripartite organization created pursuant to Executive Order No. 95, series of 1993 designating the Cooperative Development Authority as the lead government agency on cooperative promotion, regulation and calling on all government agencies with cooperative programs to coordinate with the Cooperative Development Authority and for other purposes.
The Baguio City Cooperative Development Council has been conducting the annual celebration of Cooperative Month using their funds obtained from the various activities of the council and from registration fees collected from participants of the said events that were organized for the purpose.
To inspire more cooperatives in the city to actively participate in the said celebration, the ordinance encouraged that funds be provided by the local government and concerned government agencies for the said activity to allow more cooperatives to directly and indirectly benefit from the activities lined up during the month-long celebration of Cooperative Month in the city.
By Dexter A. See
