ILOILO City – Cooperatives in Western Visayas are reeling from the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The pandemic affects cooperatives either small, medium or large,” said Director Nora Patron of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in Region 6.
Pandemic-induced restrictions affected CDA’a conduct of inventory, training and programs, according to Patron.
October is Cooperative Month.
To mitigate the pandemic’s impact on cooperatives, CDA is “doubling and advancing programs” of its partners in the government.
For instance, the Iloilo provincial government lent P56 million to 11 cooperatives in the province to buy rice from small farmers at a price of P14 per kilo.
The lending is part of the provincial government’s Mangungoma Sapnayon: Palay Price Support Program that started in 2019.
As of Sep. 21 this year, data showed 147,387 sacks of rice have been purchased from 1,455 small farmers.
Atty. Arturo Cangrejo, head of the Iloilo Provincial Trade, Investments and Cooperatives Development Office (PTICDO), said out of 618 total registered cooperatives under his office, only 269 cooperatives were compliant, or those who regularly update or submit a report.
Other cooperatives may not have submitted theirs due to the restrictions, said Cangrejo.
There were 100,231 members from the 618 registered cooperatives in the province.
The accredited cooperatives included Multi-Purpose (358), Credit (38), Consumers (38), Marketing (37), Transport (28), Agrarian Reform (19), Producers (17), Agriculture (16), Federation-Secondary and Service (8 each), Fishermen (3), Health Service (one), Water Service (one), Cooperative Bank (one), and Workers (one).
ACTIVITIES
This Cooperative Month has the theme “Kooperatibang Matatag: Tumutugon sa mga Hamon, Daan sa Pagbangon Nagbibigay Pag-asa sa Malabagong Panahon!”
Here are some of the activities in Iloilo province: Basic Accounting for Non-Accountants on Oct. 13 to 15; Regional Cooperative Quiz Contest on Oct. 18; Fundamentals of Cooperatives on Oct. 20 to 21; Governance and Management Cooperatives on Oct. 25 to 26; and Culminating Activity on Oct. 29./PN
