QUEZON CITY -- The cooperative sector claims victory once again, installing two representatives in Congress with nearly a million votes earned in the recently-concluded 2010 Party-list race.

Current representatives of Coop-NATCCO Cong. Jose R. Ping-ay and Cong. Cresente C. Paez will be the coop sector’s voices in the upcoming 15th Congress as the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) already proclaimed Coop-NATCCO as a rightful winner of two seats.

Coop-NATCCO is among the top performers in the party-list election ranking sixth with 943, 559 total vote cast (as of May 17, 2010 official vote canvassing).

COOP-NATCCO Party-list was established in 1997 and got a seat in Congress in the first party-list race in 1998. It consistently won in partylist elections. It networked with cooperative leaders from all over the Philippines and helped draft Republic Act 9520, or the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, which was finally signed into law by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on February 17, 2009.

Coop Vote

“Our victory is reflective of the relevance of the cooperative sector to the lives of the Filipino people,” said Rep. Ping-ay. “Everybody was very committed and doubly worked hard to get one million votes. Because of the strong support from coops we are closer to the top. The 943,000 votes we earned is our COOP VOTE,” added Rep. Paez.

The Party conducted a vigorous campaign as early as late 2009 among its more than 400 affiliates, as well as among the more than 10,000 cooperatives nationwide.

“It is significant to note that we had 409,000 votes in the 2007 elections. We more than doubled our votes this year and this is a very significant achievement for our Party,” says John Neumeran, Party Secretary-General.

According to Neumeran Coop-NATCCO collated and implemented the “best campaign practices” and Rep. Paez says the support of cooperatives “came from their hearts.” “Reaching out with our constituents --the cooperatives-- spelled the difference,” Rep. Ping-ay added.

“But more than our campaign, the reason people voted COOP-NATCCO is that the Party has the track record. For more than ten years, we have worked for a stronger and more dynamic cooperative sector in the Philippines,” stressed Rep. Ping-ay from Sta. Cruz Savings and Development Cooperative in the Ilocos region.

Coop legislative agenda

The representatives of Coop-NATCCO vow to work on amending the CDA (Cooperatives Development Authority) Charter and on monitoring the implementation of R.A. 9520, among other legislative agenda in the 15th Congress.

“Since we have already the RA 9520 which was passed during the 14th Congress, we will focus on amending the CDA Charter so that it will be anchored on the provisions of the Cooperative Code. We will work on the professionalization of the CDA with regard to their regulatory role,” said Rep. Paez.

Rep. Ping-ay expressed the same sentiment. He said it is important to revisit the CDA Charter so that it will be compliant to the requirements of RA 9520. “The CDA has roles and functions stipulated in the Coop Code that are not contained in its present Charter. We want to strengthen the regulatory function of the CDA,” he said.

Rep. Paez believes that the CDA is not prepared to implement RA 9520 because its Charter is not equipped with provisions that would enhance the capacity of the personnel. “The structure is more political rather than professional. So the bottomline is to increase the budget of the CDA,” he said.

Meanwhile, “closely monitoring” the implementation of R.A. 9520 is also on top of Rep. Ping-ay’s list of priorities. He said he will look into the effect or impact of the implementation of the law on cooperatives all over the country.

“Are the privileges granted to coops create positive results on their part or there is none? Because we must utilize and enjoy these privileges; I always cite as an example our coop, the Sta. Cruz Savings and Development Coop, which earned P86 million in our savings on time deposits during the first year of implementation of the law (2009). This is a drastic increase from P30 million prior to the implementation of RA 9520,” he disclosed. “We want to see to it that the cooperatives benefit from the new coop code.”

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