COOP MONTH. Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)-Central Visayas Regional Director Nora P. Patron (second from right), explains the role of CDA in the Livelihood Cluster of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict during a forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency and Association of Government Information Officers in Cebu City on Tuesday (Oct. 1, 2019). Also in photo are Gracia Nenita Banogon (third from left), secretary of Provincial Cooperative Development Council in Negros Oriental; Niza Cagulada (second from left), representative of Committee on Cooperative of Bohol Province; Siquijor Provincial Board Member Noel Monte (right); and PIA-7's Hazel Gloria (left). (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in Central Visayas on Tuesday signaled the opening of the Cooperative Month celebration by pledging to take an active role in the “whole-of-nation” approach against insurgency through entrepreneurial cooperativism.
Nora P. Patron, regional director of CDA-Region 7 (Central Visayas), said during the meeting with the regional counterparts of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) last July, it was found out that food security was among the concerns in Negros Oriental villages known to be infested with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
Patron said 15 villages in seven or eight municipalities in the province which are identified as rebel-infested will be the focus of the Livelihood Cluster of the NTF-ELCAC led by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
NTF-ELCAC was organized under Executive Order 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on December 4, 2018, institutionalizing the whole-of-nation approach in solving the country’s insurgency problem.
As a member-agency of the Livelihood Cluster, CDA-7 will assist in providing livelihood training to residents of those 15 villages in Negros Oriental.
Through cooperatives, farmers in the hinterlands of Negros Oriental will get easy access to financial services.
The agency has tapped the DCCCO Multi-purpose Cooperative (formerly Dumaguete Cathedral Credit Cooperative), a billionaire cooperative in Negros Oriental, which, according to Patron, has the capability to reach far-flung areas in the rebel-infested villages.
“Let’s educate the people there about cooperativism. Perhaps, the people in the mountain does not know that we have this program. DCCCO, being a billionaire coop in Negros Oriental, can penetrate areas covered by NTF-ELCAC and conduct membership campaign there,” Patron said in Cebuano during a forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency and the Association of Government Information Officers in Region 7.
Patron cited the laudable record of the Dumaguete-based cooperative in helping micro and small-scale entrepreneurs, particularly the farmers in the hinterlands of the province, in production, management, and marketing of their agricultural produce.
The 100,000 membership of DCCCO is still growing until today, she said.
DCCCO was founded by the Roman Catholic Church of Dumaguete City in 1968, in line with the Second Vatican Council’s call to parishes to organize cooperatives with a vision to help parishioners in their financial needs. It recently expanded its services to parents of pupils of the parish-based school in Dumaguete that have been victimized by "5-6" loan sharks.
"We are hoping that with our partnership with the DCCCO, we can be part of the transformation of these people. It remains to be seen. But we are positive, we are optimistic that we can provide them with their livelihood needs, provisions of financial services and marketing of their products," Patron pointed out.
Gracia Nenita Banogon, secretary of Provincial Cooperative Development Council in Negros Oriental, visited Cebu City for the opening of the cooperative development month and witnessed how cooperatives help resolve peace and security problems in the province.
Farmers and their children benefitted from some trainings provided by small cooperatives, with skills being transferred ranging from production, marketing, and bookkeeping, Banogon said.
Meanwhile, Patron said her office has endeavored to educate the public about Republic Act 11364 or the Cooperative Development Authority Charter of 2019 signed by President Duterte last August 8.
The new law mandates the reorganization of CDA, improve the regulatory function of the agency by adding quasi-judicial powers and to conduct regular inspection and examination to cooperatives. (PNA)
