By Jerome Alangui-Muguet Polonio, Ph.D.
Every October, the nation pauses to celebrate Cooperative Month, a time dedicated to recognizing the immense contributions of cooperatives to community empowerment, economic growth, and social transformation. For 2025, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) has chosen the theme: “Cooperatives United in Purpose and Action, Sharing Prosperity to Build a Better World.”
This theme speaks powerfully to the cooperative identity and its enduring mission: people helping people, communities working together, and shared prosperity as the cornerstone of development. In an era of global uncertainties, economic challenges, and environmental crises, it is unity of purpose and collective action that sustain and propel cooperatives forward.
United in Purpose
At the heart of every cooperative is a shared vision: to improve the lives of members and communities through collective ownership, democratic participation, and inclusive growth. Cooperatives bring together farmers, workers, women, youth, professionals, and entrepreneurs under one umbrella where each member is both an owner and a beneficiary.
This unity of purpose distinguishes cooperatives from conventional businesses. While profit is important for sustainability, cooperatives are driven by service, equity, and mutual benefit—ensuring that no one is left behind. Whether it is providing access to credit for small farmers, affordable goods through consumer stores, fair market access for producers, or social protection through insurance and health services, cooperatives transform shared dreams into shared realities.
United in Action
Purpose without action is only aspiration. What sets cooperatives apart is their ability to translate collective goals into tangible programs and services.
· In agriculture, cooperatives help farmers increase productivity, adopt sustainable methods, and find fair markets for their produce.
· In finance, savings and credit cooperatives empower members to save, borrow, and invest in their futures.
· In services and enterprises, cooperatives create jobs, promote innovation, and stimulate local economies.
· In social development, they invest in education, capacity-building, health care, and community welfare.
By harnessing the power of cooperation, communities are able to achieve outcomes that individuals working alone could never accomplish. Cooperatives prove that solidarity is not just an ideal but a practical tool for inclusive development.
Sharing Prosperity
Prosperity, when hoarded, creates inequality. But prosperity, when shared, becomes a foundation for justice, peace, and dignity.
Cooperatives embody this principle by redistributing economic gains equitably among members, reinvesting in communities, and building social capital. The dividends, patronage refunds, and community development programs funded by cooperatives ensure that growth is not concentrated in a few hands but enjoyed collectively.
This shared prosperity is not limited to financial returns. It includes social empowerment, cultural pride, environmental stewardship, and resilience—dimensions of prosperity that go beyond material wealth and create a higher quality of life for all.
Building a Better World
The theme also resonates with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where cooperatives are recognized as key partners in eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality, ensuring decent work, advancing climate action, and fostering peace and partnerships.
By embedding inclusivity, democracy, and sustainability in their DNA, cooperatives naturally contribute to building a better world. They show that economic systems can be humane, that business models can be equitable, and that communities can thrive without sacrificing solidarity and compassion.
The Call of Cooperative Month 2025
As we celebrate Cooperative Month this October 2025, the CDA’s theme serves as both a reminder and a call to action. Cooperatives must remain steadfast in their unity of purpose, bold in their collective action, and generous in sharing prosperity.
In Baguio-Benguet, in the Cordillera, across the Philippines, and throughout the world, let us strengthen our cooperative movement so that together we may build a society where no one is left behind, where prosperity is shared, and where solidarity becomes the foundation of a just and sustainable future.
Truly, Cooperatives United in Purpose and Action, Sharing Prosperity to Build a Better World is more than just a theme. It is a way of life, a mission for humanity, and a roadmap to a brighter tomorrow.
GOD BLESSES MORE THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT!!!
