La Trinidad is abuzz with a lot of happenings these days, one of which was the recently concluded month long Strawberry Festival. One notable activity however, got drowned amidst the hurly burly of the town’s series of events. It is the LGU – Coop Partnership.
The existing partnership between La Trinidad co-operatives and La Trinidad LGU got interesting with the crafting of a Program Management and Administration of the Cooperative Development Fund (CDF) Contributions of Cooperatives in the municipality which was initiated by the La Trinidad Municipal Co-operative Development Council (MCDC). Under this program, 5% from the CDF of all co-ops in La Trinidad in a given year will be handed over to the MCDC as part of their contribution to advance and accelerate development in the said town.
Where can you find a place where, instead of the LGU giving assistance to co-ops, it is the other way around? Only in La Trinidad, Benguet. I do not know how seductive the charm of the good mayor is but the co-ops in La Trinidad came to a consensus to allot a small percentage of their Community Development Fund (CDF) for soon to be identified LGU projects.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Program was already out and ready for signing by the stakeholders. Under this IRR, the Project Committee of the MCDC will be tasked to determine the project to be funded by the Program in accordance with the Annual Investment Plan and the Municipal Development Plan of the Municipality. The Committee will also identify what projects to be prioritized with special consideration on those projects that has no specific funding from the LGU.
This initiative is the first ever in the region and probably even in the entire country. I do not know of any LGU that have this kind of partnership with co-ops so far. This is a winner in any angle. My theory is that co-ops grow faster and become more successful when they are given attention by the local leaders.
Anyway, the idea of tapping into the resources of the co-ops for development came about when most of the big co-ops in La Trinidad have been donating to the LGU, schools and other sectors in observance of the 7th Co-op Principle, the Concern for Community. In order to avoid project duplication, the MCDC leadership found it appropriate to pool these resources and use it to fund projects that will have the most impact and improve the image of co-ops.
For their part, the LGU appropriated a budget for the use of the Municipal Cooperative Development Office (MCDO) for activities that will advance co-op development through the MCDC. The MCDO will also have its own office space in order to bring its services closer to the people.
All told, I guess this is what we get when the local chief executive, no other than Mayor Romeo K. Salda, gives his all-out support to the co-ops in his jurisdiction.
