by: ANTHONY P. GALVAN, CDS II
The KOOP KAPATID (Big Brother Helping Small Brother) PROGRAM is a tripartite agreement between the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), the “Big Brother Coop” and the coop beneficiary which is the “Small Brother Coop”. The program’s intention is to assist the small brother coop in the aspects of compliance and cooperative management abilities to ensure better if not excellent business processes. It also aims to help these cooperatives in the areas of governance, and business operations by providing financial, technical and other needed assistance.
In the municipality of Basud, the “Big Brother Cooperative” role was assumed by the BASUD DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE (BADEVCO), one of the oldest and most prestigious cooperatives in the whole Bicol region. On the other hand, the “Small Brother Coops” are micro cooperatives namely BASUD AGRARIAN REFORM BENEFICIARIES DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE (BARBDC), BACTAS FARMERS AGRICULTURE COOPERATIVE (BFAC), SAN FELIPE FURNITURE PRODUCERS AND MARKETING COOPERATIVE (SFFPMC), and SINAG-ARAW BICOL MULTIPURPOSE COOPERATIVE (SABMPC).
This program was realized through the efforts of CDS II Anthony P. Galvan of CDA Camarines Norte Contact Office, the Basud MCDO Marte O. Olaguera and with support of Basud’s Local Chief Executive Hon. Adrian S. Davoco.
On December 7, 2022, BADEVCO conducted a “Needs Assessment Workshop” to the Koop Kapatid Program beneficiaries with the intention of determining the areas of intervention where they can help. The coop-beneficiaries were represented by their Board of Directors and key officers. Through this activity, the cooperatives were able to identify their strengths, weaknesses and areas of opportunity for improvement. They were also able to formulate a short-term development plan that will serve as their guide.
A “Budget Formulation Workshop” was also conducted for the Koop Kapatid Program on February 2, 2023 wherein they were assisted by BADEVCO in the formulation of their annual budget planning. The activity is aimed to help the cooperatives to provide structure to their budget, predict cash flows, allocate resources better and eventually measure the performance of cooperative’s businesses and finances.
Aside from the capacity-building activities conducted by BADEVCO, they also donated a computer unit to the beneficiaries. This is intended to help the latter in the preparation of the reports required from them to secure their certificate of compliance (COC). The computer unit was installed in the office of the MCDO which these cooperatives had full access to. Aside from the computer unit, the coop beneficiaries were also provided copies of the RA 9520 to be used as their legal reference. These were formally turned over to the cooperatives during the Municipal Cooperative Development Council meeting last December 7, 2023. BADEVCO’s OIC General Manager, Mr. Joel Era was present to turnover these items to the chairpersons of the Small Brother cooperatives.
To further solidify their commitment to the program, BADEVCO have allocated P40,000 (P10,000.00 for each cooperative) in their annual budget for the sole purpose of helping their small brother cooperatives. These funds will be readily accessible to the coop beneficiaries for their capacity-building activities.
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