QUEZON CITY – On March 3, 2023, the Credit Surety Fund (CSF) Service through the Inspection and Examination Division (IED) hosted a Compliance Forum for CSF Cooperatives via the Zoom platform. This activity aims to guide the CSF Cooperative officers in accomplishing the required reports, as well as to ensure uniformity and common understanding of the Monitoring Tool and Memorandum Circular 2022-31.
The program began with an opening message and rationale from the Deputy Administrator of the CSF Service, Atty. Ma. Lourdes P. Pacao. She emphasized the significance of the activity because of the uniqueness of the CSF Cooperatives’ structure. Atty. Pacao also stressed the sanctions that the cooperative officers or the cooperative itself may encounter for failing to submit the required reports and likewise, the role of the CDA being the regulatory agency of cooperatives in providing technical assistance to ensure the compliance of each CSF cooperative in order to avoid such sanctions. Furthermore, she announced the inclusion of CSF Cooperatives in the CDA Gawad Parangal for 2023 and timely compliance with the different reportorial requirements is one of the criteria for the award.
Discussions during the morning session focused on the Mandatory Reports for CSF Cooperatives. Mr. John Erick R. Zepeda, Cooperatives Development Specialist II of IED, explained the contents of the Cooperative Annual Progress Report, Performance Audit Report, Performance Audit Report Summary, and the List of Training Attended/Completed. The remaining reports such as the Social Audit Report, Mediation and Conciliation Report, template of Financial Statements, and Annual Tax Incentives Report were discussed by Mr. Ian Dave U. Alindajao, the Senior Cooperative Development Specialist in the same division. Some of the concerns raised at the end of the presentation included the reporting of shares and contributions, as well as change of ownership, the application for Certificate of Tax Exemption, the allocation of the Cooperative Education and Training Fund, and the composition of the cooperative’s committees which were answered by the speakers briefly.
Collectively addressing the challenges of the CSF Cooperatives in preparing the reports, the IED expects that the CSF Cooperatives will be able to submit a complete and accurate set of reports, which will eventually serve as the basis for the renewal of their Certificates of Compliance and assessment of their qualification for the Natatanging CSF Cooperative Awards.
In the afternoon session, the CSF Service Acting Director Mr. Joselito O. Hallazgo presented Memorandum Circular 2022-31 and discussed the treatment of assets and liabilities in preparing the Audited Financial Statements relative to the transition from CSF Organizations to CSF Cooperatives. He addressed immediately the clarifications raised by the participants with regard to the earnings of their investment prior to the registration with the CDA, the submission of reclassified financial statements, the timeline for the distribution of the undivided net income, and the tax payables of its bank accounts. In addition to the reports, Ms. Josie L. Villaver, the Supervising CDS of IED, presented the updated Monitoring Tool highlighting the importance of the tool to the operation of the CSF Cooperatives. Some of the participants gave appreciation to the tool, which the CSF cooperative may use in the evaluation of loan applications and decision-making.
The very first compliance forum for CSF Cooperatives was concluded with a message from the Chief of the Technical Assistance Division, Mr. Recto E. Transifiguracion. He stressed the goal of the CSF Service in relation to its supervisory and regulatory functions, which is to ensure the safe and sound operations of CSF Cooperatives. The activity drew 159 participants, including the CSF cooperatives’ chairperson, board of directors, committee officers, other cooperative officers, and CDA CSF personnel.
