|
The Senate approved on third and final reading last Monday the
consolidated bill amending the Cooperative Code. I am struck by the
fact that the approval not only modernized the 18-year-old law but
also marked the first time in four Congresses that the Senate had
acted faster than the House on this issue. For this, credit should
be given to Sen. Migz Zubiri, chairman of the Senate Committee on
Cooperatives, and Senate President Manny Villar and Majority Leader
Kiko Pangilinan who gave the measure priority attention.
I will devote this column to this piece of
socio-economic legislation because it has stronger impact than is
visible at first glance. Migz enthused that given more incentives
and adequate safeguards against abuses, cooperatives could be a more
potent shield against economic woes, especially in the countryside.
He ticked off the brighter side of coops: there are 74,809
cooperatives with a combined asset of P42 billion and with 1.636
million employees as of 2006.
The GDP growth rate is predicted to slow down
this year to 4.6 percent from 8.3 percent last year. Migz and the
other senators saw in the coop movement a strong shield against the
economic slowdown. He noted that many poor people who would
otherwise be refused credit by banking institutions, could get
credit from their coops—and coops do not require voluminous
documentation and collateral. He also cited cooperatives for
providing the services that government is unable to address in many
areas.
“These coops are really the catalyst for
growth in many of the depressed and marginalized areas in the
country,” he said.
Amen to that!
Privileges of coops
The bill gives duly registered coops preference
in the grant of franchises, be it for electricity, transportation
and education. Indeed, the measure is so detailed that it gives
added privileges to every kind of coop under the sun. For instance,
a transport coop will be entitled to financing support for the
acquisition and maintainance of land, sea and air transport
equipment. It will also have the right of first refusal on the
management and operation of public terminals and ports, whether
land, sea or air, where it operates. This privilege was lifted from
the bill of SP Villar.
And how about an agricultural cooperative? It
will have preference in the allocation of fertilizers, seeds and
other agricultural inputs and implements, and in rice distribution
by government agencies. Coops organized primarily for marketing of
products from agriculture, fisheries and small industries will also
have the right of first refusal in the management of public markets
or lease of public market facilities, stalls or spaces. Migz said
that there is a caveat to this privilege: the coop must use it and
not assign it to others.
Coops organized by faculty members and employees
of education institutions will have the right of first refusal in
the management of the canteen and other services related to the
operation of the education institution where they are employed.
An omnibus privilege requires housing agencies
and government financial institutions to create a special window for
financing housing projects undertaken by coops. The interest rate
should be equal to or better than those given for socialized housing
projects. And here’s more! This financing should be in the form of
blanket loans or long-term wholesale loans to qualified coops,
without need for individual processing.
The thinking of senators that coops should make
a dint in the locality can be gleaned from Section 7: “Every
cooperative shall have at least one major socio-economic undertaking
that must have a positive impact on social concerns as membership
education, environment, health, democracy and other aspects of human
betterment or empowerment.”
This early, Migz is formulating a companion bill
that would amend the charter of the Cooperative Development
Authority (CDA). He explained that granting greater powers to the
CDA would eliminate the casualty list of cooperatives, as well as
victims of pseudo-cooperatives.
The joint committee report is a consolidation of
the bills filed by Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Rodolfo Biazon, Nene
Pimentel, Villar and Migz.
Dirty tricks now on
Some presidential wannabes mouth the line that
it is still too early to talk about 2010. However, this may not be
true to the dirty tricks department of some of them—just ask
Senators Loren Legarda and Ping Lacson. Loren wailed that a bogus
website using her name is espousing causes that she is totally
against. She also said that an email address with her name is even
soliciting campaign funds for 2010. She wants everybody to know that
her official website is lorenlegarda.com.ph.
Ping said that a text brigade is sending
messages using his name in the dead of the night or early morning.
He said that this was designed to turn the receiver against him.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
|
