Cooperatives need people with skills to run it as an enterprise
by Prix D Banzon
Davao City (1 October) -- A cooperative is an economic enterprise and must have people who has the skills to run it as an enterprise.
Rosalinda E. Villaseca, Administrator of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and concurrent regional director for Regions XI and XII, told business reporters at the Davao Business Forum at SM's MediSpa on Tuesday that financial management is critical to running the Cooperative.
Although she said that the people are already aware of cooperatives, there is still a need for continuing education.
Citing figures in Davao City for instance, she said there are about 1,828 registered cooperatives but only 570 are active cooperatives.
She said the remaining 1,300 plus inactive cooperatives are either undertaking rehabilitation while others are being assessed.
She said Cooperatives will be subjected to dissolution if after two years of application it would not be able to operative even as she said that due process has to be followed and in Davao City about 198 of them were already dissolved.
"That is why Cooperatives must follow good governance, have visionary and selfless leaders and God-fearing," she said.
As of the latest figure she said Davao City has about 155,160 members of Cooperatives.
Meanwhile she said there are some groups that register for cooperative only for the sake of getting a grant from somewhere but later end up with nothing.
She said the Cooperatives that were able to accessed fund from government through loan has the obligation to the government because public funds are subject to liquidation.
These inactive cooperatives have their financial statement hanging and so the CDA as part of reaching out to these sectors conduct dialogue with them and provide them the pro-forma just to come up with steps so that their account could move, she said. (PIA) [top]
