LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Cooperatives: the dead and the dying
March Fianza

It is quite shocking that peoples’ cooperatives that are supposed to be assisted, supervised and taken cared of by the government are the ones that are found by their members to be grossly indebted, on the verge of financial collapse if not bankrupt.

It is either that there must be something wrong with the Cooperative Code that needs changing or there must be something wrong with the people tasked with the mandate of the Cooperative Development Authority – or both.

CDA records as of the middle part of this year revealed that 206 or 58 per cent of the 355 registered coops based in Baguio have stopped operations, while only 42 per cent representing 149 registered coops are still operating.

Breaking it down, of the 206 Baguio-based coops that were left to die recently; 52 were dissolved, 138 had their registrations cancelled and 16 simply became inactive and non-operational.

In Benguet, 225 cooperatives are still operational, representing 37 per cent of 607 registered cooperatives. The remaining 63 per cent or 382 coops have dissolved or have cancelled their registration as they were no longer operational.

Of the 382 coops that were dissolved, 220 had their registrations cancelled, 124 were dissolved and 38 slept and forgot to wake up.

Summing up the figures for only Baguio and Benguet, that excludes the CDA records for the whole Cordillera, there are 962 registered coops. Of that number, 588 coops or 61 per cent became non operational, were eventually dissolved or had their registrations cancelled. Only 374 or 39 percent are still functioning.

The numbers tell the truth. It only means that more cooperatives are dying, if not dead, as compared to the number of survivors. How many more coops registered with the CDA will die? By the way, I heard the unresolved problems of Sorsogon Electric Cooperative became worse when it registered.

Article 2, paragraph 2 of RA 6938 a.k.a the Cooperative Code of the Philippines states in part that government and its agencies shall ensure the provisions of technical guidance, financial assistance and other services to enable cooperatives to develop into viable and responsive economic enterprises and thereby bring about a strong cooperative movement … etc, etc.

The law was beautifully crafted by the best minds in congress in 1990. What makes it hard for the concerned agencies in implementing it is beyond our comprehension. They may be active in other matters other than looking after the sick and dying coops that they promised to assist and develop.

As we write, my friend Sly Quintos is fuming over the phone saying he has not taken a bath for forty days - forty nights because their water cooperative has stopped serving its members at Alapang, Trinidad where he lives. The name of their cooperative is Barangay Alapang Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Balmuco) headed by Marcelo Abela.

Sly Q said, “never mind the money and never mind the water because we can have that delivered.” What is painful is that the officers of Balmuco do not even have the temerity to tell us “hoy, o_i _ _ m Sly, awan maited ti coop nga danum tadta!”

We found out that the reason for the non-delivery of services is that Balmuco is indebted for unpaid electric bills amounting to P706,882.00 – enough reason for Beneco to disconnect the water coop’s power. Beneco disconnected the power of Balmuco several times, where the latter promised to pay its electric bills. Officials of the beleaguered coop also promised to issue post dated checks. The first three checks were good, the checks that followed bounced – meaning, Balmuco has no money to pay its electric bills.

Before this column is accused of taking sides, we say Beneco can not be faulted for disconnecting the power of Balmuco because it has to pay its bills with Transco and Napocor. If in case Beneco’s suppliers cut the power due to unpaid bills, all member-consumers will be affected, a scenario that Balmuco’s officers and their CDA supervisors can not answer for.

Cooperatives are good. There is no doubt about that. But, only of its officers manage the organization properly. Sly Q said the members only pay around P300 a month for Balmuco’s water service. Whatever happened, he now has to pay P500 per week for water delivery. Apparently, their coop failed in its duty to provide water for its members.

I was told Balmuco’s initial funds were provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese agency that also funded the Highland Rural Development Project (HIRUDP) in Trinidad in the early 1990s.

According to an informant who is also a member of Balmuco, the JICA fund was exclusively for a water cooperative. However, the coop branched out to other activities such as lending services and the cutflower industry. There is nothing illegal about that as it is indeed allowed by law. Problem is, if those members who availed of the coop’s lending service fail to return the money, the other services such as water delivery suffer.

The CDA should dip its fingers into the problem of Balmuco and the other dying coops as it is tasked by law to do that. If it can not even revive its sick cooperatives, how well can it be able to supervise an electric cooperative? What more?

Recall that CDA advocates have been urging Beneco member-consumers to convert to stock cooperative and register under its wings. The Balmuco experience is a typical example of how CDA can revive or allow the ailing coop to just die. It can not be faulted if the coop dies, at least it can investigate into the dealings of Balmuco’s officers and why it ran bankrupt. But then again, maybe it was due to their guidance and supervision that Balmuco became ill.

By the way, Trinidad councilor Jim Botiwey noticed that the officers of Balmuco are the same people behind the water service application of nearby Barangay Shilan. This prompted him to launch an inquiry in the municipal council, before they endorse anything. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com