By Anthony A. Araos
beg to disagree. October 26 is not a day to culminate the celebration of the Cooperative Month program. It is just the beginning.
Attending a program with several cooperatives participating to promote the cooperative movement’s objectives gave me a new appreciation for cooperatives.
Where is the Ifugao cooperative movement heading in this “new normal” times? To my mind, the choice of Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP)-Lagawe Branch department manager Joel S. Cabrera as the program’s Resource Speaker was an excellent move. The Ifugao Credit Surety Funds Cooperative seeks to reinforce the province through timely linkages with numerous agencies. One such reliable partner is the LBP. However, cooperative leaders must translate such efforts on the ground effectively in order for it to have a real impact on people’s lives. That is why it is imperative that efforts of all cooperatives be channeled to bear on pressing issues of the day, way above the confines of credit surety funds. The decision to have Mr. Cabrera as its speaker was indeed a step in the right direction. I commend Mr. Cabrera for his unwavering commitment to raise public consciousness on the role of cooperatives in spurring growth in this part of the nation. His presence is a demonstration of the LBP’s commitment to help Ifugao folks. It is hoped that the partnership between the LBP and the province’s cooperative movement would continue to thrive for a stronger bond, and consequently, for better results to benefit the common folks.
During this COVID-19 crisis, scores of cooperative employees in Ifugao got added to the millions of unemployed Filipinos. According to the Department of Labor and Employment, the number of displaced workers from January to October reached 3,675,150. And where were the much-touted “credit surety funds” to help these displaced folks? Those who had worked in cooperatives for a number of years, for instance, should be hired by the provincial government. They should be hired based on their experiences and qualifications- not on “political patronage.” Retrenchment is still unemployment in a way but life has to go on for these former cooperative employees. I’m fervently praying for a positive feedback from the officialdom.
Ifugao is a predominantly farming province. I’m extremely glad that the LBP is standing side-by-side with the cash-strapped farmers. Where are the farmers’ cooperatives during this all-important period? If the government is bent on improving the plight of farmers it should exert its utmost to really include farmers cooperatives in the economic equation. Providing farmers cooperatives their rightful place in the cooperative movement should no longer be a decision of one person who cares for the soil tillers but should be a collective policy. The Landbank’s assistance to farmers cooperatives is well-recognized. It offered farmers financial support through the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
The provincial government should now focus on jobs generation. Today– no thanks to the despised “contractualization” practices– there is really a need to create jobs that will give Ifugao folks a decent quality of life. I’m strongly urging Vice Governor Glenn Prudenciano- the presiding officer of the Sanggunian Panlalawigan and staunch advocate of the cooperative movement, to push for more cooperative-friendly, labor-friendly policies to ensure more equitable distribution of wealth in the province. It is high time to sincerely prioritize the needs of all cooperatives in order to promote the overall well-being of their members. It starts with the heart. Inaction has a depressing impact on the delivery of services and products that are beneficial to the poor.**
