With the high aspiration of making financial services accessible to cooperatives, especially for the micro and small cooperatives, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), in collaboration with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), initiated an exploratory meeting on financial services last August 6, 2021 via virtual platform. This activity was one of the discussion points during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between CDA and DBP on July 16, 2021 at the DBP Head Office, Makati City.
During the exploratory talk, the DBP, CDA, cooperative banks and selected billionaire cooperatives discussed on how these cooperatives could serve as conduits in the implementation of Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) for transport cooperatives.
The meeting was attended by representatives from DBP, namely, Senior Vice President Paul D. Lazaro, AVP Racquel C. Anzures, and Mr. Joseph Angelo Diamante. From the CDA, Chairman Joseph B. Encabo, Assistant Secretaries Myrla B. Paradillo, Vidal V. Villanueva III, and Abad L. Santos were in attendance, together with Deputy Administrator Ray R. Elevazo, CSF Director Atty. Mona Liza Arriba-Juarez, and other employees from the different units.
On the part of cooperatives, in attendance were the Cooperative Bank Federation of the Philippines (BANGKOOP), Cooperative Bank of Negros Oriental, Metro South Cooperative Bank, La Union CSF Cooperative, Mindanao Consolidated Cooperative Bank, Ilocos Consolidated Cooperative Bank, Zambales Cooperative Bank, ACDI Multipurpose Cooperative, San Dionisio Credit Cooperative, Soro-Soro Ibaba Development Cooperative, DCCCO Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Oro Integrated Cooperative, among others.
In his opening message, Asst. Sec. Vidal D. Villanueva III, head of the Credit and Financial Services, Banking, and Insurance Cluster, expressed his gratitude to DBP for providing support to cooperatives through its financial services. A warm greeting and gratitude was also extended by SVP Lazaro.
CDA Chairman Encabo stated that this joint effort with cooperative banks, billionaire cooperatives and the DBP will contribute greatly in the advancement of the society especially micro and small cooperatives. He also said that this could open potentials for the development of transport cooperatives and other types of cooperatives through the support of DBP. According to Chairman Encabo, this is an opportunity to strengthen cooperative banks through their engagement in the PUV Modernization program. He emphasized that the new leadership of CDA not only focuses on the development of micro, small and medium cooperatives but also addresses the concerns of large cooperatives and cooperative banks, thereby calling for a multi-dimensional approach.
AVP Raquel Anzures presented the DBP Program Assistance to Support Alternative Driving Approaches (PASADA) Financing program, specifically its objective, eligible borrowers, loan purpose, standard terms and conditions, acceptable collateral/security and the documentary requirements.
The open forum was ably facilitated by Deputy Administrator Elevazo. Among the concerns raised were the capacity of cooperative banks and billionaire cooperatives as potential partners in extending assistance to transport cooperatives, the equity/capital requirements of transport cooperatives, the equity subsidy provided by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the approved route plan as part of the requirements relative to the implementation of the PUV Modernization program.
In closing, Asst. Secretary Paradillo expressed her gratitude to DBP, CDA team and to the participating cooperatives. She believes that the activity will have a positive outcome as it offers an alternative solution to the problems faced by the transport cooperatives relative to the implementation of the PUV Modernization program.
Further, she emphasized that partnership and collaboration must be forged to come up with the optimum solution to address the problem of the cooperative sector, particularly financial aspect. To end, she shared a quote from Terry Tempest Williams that says: Despair shows us the limit of our imagination. Imaginations shared create collaboration, collaboration creates community, and community inspires social change. C. Reyes
