Zubiri says coops help country cope with crisis

CEBU, Philippines - Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri yesterday said the government has acknowledged the important role of the cooperatives in helping address the impact of the global economic crisis.

In his speech during the 18th founding anniversary celebration of the Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative at the Cebu Coliseum, the senator said a number of cooperatives have helped the national government in terms of economic development.

The Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative has more than 40,000 members in the whole province of Cebu.

Zubiri said when he was yet a member of the House of Representatives, representing one of the districts of Bukidnon province, he received a number of complaints from cooperative officials regarding their operations. He added that some cooperatives failed to survive because of some problems affected their operations.

When he investigated the matter, the senator said he learned that impositions of taxes and other requirements had affected these cooperative that prompted him and his colleagues at the House of Representatives to introduced a bill amending the 18-year-old Cooperative Code of the Philippines.

Zubiri further said that the amended law, R.A. 9520, otherwise known as the “Philippine Cooperative Act of 2008,” gives cooperatives greater opportunities to serve their members, not only in terms of financial assistance, but also in undertaking more productive activities geared toward the upliftment of their members.

RA 9520 brought to a successful end the campaign of cooperatives for a strengthened and more comprehensive law on the promotion and development of the country’s cooperatives.

Under the new law, cooperatives are exempted from paying their taxes when they are selling their products to a member of the cooperatives and to non-members.

They are also exempted from paying Valued Added Tax, local taxes from the local government units and when they make transactions with the banks and insurance companies.

Zubiri claimed that the exemption will affect the collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Finance and other government agencies. However, he added that under the new law, cooperatives are expected to play important roles in the country’s social justice and sustainable economic development programs.

RA 9520 outlines in greater detail the requirements in professionalizing the management and operation of cooperatives, and provides for a monitoring and evaluation tool for the cooperatives to conduct self-assessments of its managerial, financial, and social objectives.

In a report, the Cooperative Development Authority said that since 1990, there are 4,812 savings and credit cooperatives that are registered.

There are also 1,369 consumer cooperatives, mostly in public and private offices and schools; 1,409 producers cooperatives: 911 marketing cooperatives; 1,806 service cooperatives providing power distribution, potable water and irrigation system, public and private transportation service; and 60,000 registered agricultural and non-agricultural cooperatives.

The entire cooperative sector has generated 1.636 million jobs in 2006. — Jose P. Sollano/WAB (THE FREEMAN)