CDA: Only 52% of CV coops are compliant

CEBU, Philippines — The Cooperative Development Authority in Central Visayas (CDA)-7 has disclosed that only over half of the 1,322 registered cooperatives in the region are compliant with requirements, including the submission of financial statements, and training records.

According to CDA-7 regional director Christina Villamil, compliance is essential to each and every cooperative in order to ensure sustainability, but then only 696 out of 1,322 are compliant.

Breaking down into provinces, Cebu leads the region with 396 compliant cooperatives, followed by Bohol with 207, Negros Oriental with 78, and Siquijor with 15.

Villamil believes that one of the key reasons for non-compliance is the lack of proper management, particularly among micro and small cooperatives.

With this, CDA-7 prioritizes assisting these cooperatives through various training with the help of local government units (LGUs).

Villamil also noted that cooperatives must ensure all financial transactions are properly recorded and that they meet CDA’s mandatory requirements just like being registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

“Sa mga non-compliant, gihatagan sila og show cause order then kung dili nila matuman or di sila katubag ana then we cannot issue the certificate of compliance,” said Villamil.

A Certificate of Compliance is essential for every cooperative as it is required to be presented to the BIR for tax exemption renewal.

Moreover, CDA-7 also reported that the region has a total 1,551,364 individual cooperative members, with Cebu accounting for 896,897 members, followed by Bohol with 160,073 members, Negros Oriental with 474,354, and Siquijor with 20,040.

In 2022, the regions’ cooperatives held total assets of P67.8 billion and generated a net surplus of P1.74 billion.

Villamil explained that around 70 percent was distributed back to members as interest on capital and patronage refunds after allocating funds for mandatory reserves.

For mandatory reserves, it includes the General Reserve Fund, which serves as financial protection for cooperatives in case of losses or liquidation, and the Cooperative Education and Training Fund, used for member training and capacity building.

Additionally, an amount also goes to the Cooperative Development Fund for supporting community development projects.

This is why Villamil is urging younger generations to participate in cooperatives, highlighting the importance of developing the "habit of saving."

“It’s not just they get a small amount of interest when you go to a bank but as a cooperative at the end of the year they get something and that’s the use of capital interest and patronage refund,” said Villamil.

She added that aside from the patronage refunds, another perk of members is easy access to loans and the security of their paid-up capital even if they are repaying their respective loans. –/ATO (FREEMAN)