Creation of Baguio Women Coop proposed

BAGUIO CITY -- Councilor Lilia Farinas has penned an ordinance seeking to establish the Kalipunan ng Liping Pilipina (KALIPI) Women’s Cooperative of Baguio City.

    The KALIPI is the Women Federation of Baguio City which is a non-political, non-stock, non-profit, and non-sectarian citywide federation under the supervision of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO). It responds to the needs of women’s organizations in the barangays in order to genuinely promote women’s development and empowerment by harnessing their strengths and developing their full potential as human beings.

    The proposed KALIPI women’s cooperative shall be made up of the different KALIPI barangay women’s associations to be collectively organized under the direct supervision of the CSWDO with the assistance of the Cooperative Development Authority, the Committee on Social Services, Women, and Urban Poor of the Baguio City Council, and other essential government line agencies as may be necessary.

    Under the ordinance, the cooperative’s by-laws shall be created. These are a set of rules that determine how a cooperative will be run without confusion and in compliance with the provisions of the Cooperative Code of the Philippines (RA 6938). 

    Included in the KALIPI Women’s Cooperative by-laws shall be the qualifications for membership; rights and obligations of members; conditions for transfer of shares of interest; rules and procedures covering agenda, time, place, and manner of calling, covering, conduct of meetings, quorum requirements, voting system, and other matters related to the business affairs of the cooperative; utilization and increase of capital; mode of custody and investment of net surplus; accounting and auditing systems; manner and limitations of loaning and borrowing; methods of distribution of net surplus; manner of adopting, amending, repealing, and abrogating the by-laws; and conciliation or mediation mechanism for the amicable settlement of disputes among members, directors, officers, and committees.

    The articles of cooperation shall likewise be established. This contains the name of the cooperation, its members, terms of existence, and other pertinent description about the cooperative. It is a duly notarized document that legally binds all the signatories in the formation of the cooperative.

    According to the ordinance, the cooperative shall adopt the seven cooperative principles reformulated by the International Cooperative Alliance in Vienna in 1996 during its 23rd Congress. These are volunteerism, democracy, limitation of share capital interest; sharing of allocations on the cooperative's surplus and savings; provision for education and training; and promotion of cooperation.

    The general assembly shall be held at least once a year. The date of the general assembly shall be indicated in the by-laws. However, for a newly registered cooperative, the general assembly must be called within 90 days from the date of approval.

    The general assembly shall be conducted to determine and approve amendments to the articles of cooperation and the by-laws; elect or appoint the members of the Board of Directors and to remove them for a cause; approve the developmental plans of the cooperative; and other matters requiring a ⅔ vote of all the members of the general assembly.

    The cooperative shall generate the fund it needs to be established through the contribution of its members. The membership fee shall be P500.00 and the minimum share capital shall be P1,000.00 which shall also serve as the member’s maintaining balance. 

    The proposed ordinance has been approved on first reading and referred to the Sanggunian’s Committee on Employment, Livelihood and Cooperatives, and Persons with Disabilities for review. -Jordan G. Habbiling