Bulletin No. 1-1
(December 1, 1999)
|Info-sharing
project on Partnerships launched
MANILA,
December 1|(SanibLakas
InfoShare) The SanibLakas ng Taongbayan Foundation, a
three-year-old synergism-oriented organization, launches today the SanibLakas 
InfoShare
coverage of Partnerships.
This will carry reports on joint statements and joint actions of distinct
organizations, and will also include feature stories on the application
of synergism especially among civil society organizations and institutions.
SanibLakas sees healthy partnerships among numerous and widely varied
entities as the social foundation of the healthy nationhood that we have
been trying to build. Such nationhood was birthed with the short-lived
Haring Bayang Katagalugan (Sovereign State of the Katagalugan Archipelago)
founded by Andres Bonifacio in August 1896. As a member-organization of
Kamalaysayan (Kampanya para sa Kamalayan sa Kasaysayan or Campaign Netwoek
for Sense of History), the foundation has adopted the nation-building theme
among its thrusts in the promotion of synergism, conscious that this flows
along the continuing history of the nation's "unfinished revolution."
Alliance-wide actions and statements not explicitly signed by individual
member-entities will be treated as single-organization matters and will
not be carried. This is because the Foundation believes in diversity, handled
well, as the dynamic factor in synergies. Monolithic entities tend to lose
dynamism in whatever synergies they are able to muster.
For this project, SanibLakas Foundation is inviting the convenors,
facilitators and participants in such partnerships to share all vital information,
including contact numbers, thru "infoshare@saniblakas.faithweb.com".
.
The first bulletin of SanibLakas InfoShare
on
Partnerships
carries
an account of the recent bilateral conference between the Philippine cooperative
movement and the provincial governments represented by their governors
and officers for cooperative affairs. SanibLakas has long
viewed the cooperatives to hold vast potentials in contributing to national
synergy and the consequent empowerment of the people. As early as
April 1998, Joydee C. Robledo spoke as SanibLakas executive director
on "synergism in cooperatives, and its role in the people’s empowerment,"
in a talk before cooperative leaders gathered for the Visayas Cooperative
Development Center (VICTO) congress in Bohol.
Also being launched today is the SanibLakas
InfoShare on
Earth
Day 2000,
activities in the Philippines, the third coverage of this kind underaken
by this organization. SanibLakas
earlier
issued a challenge for a broad and healthy unity in spirit among all groups
and individuals with Earth Day-related projects and activities.
This statement carried certain proposed guidelines, most of which are applicable
to other efforts for forging healthy partnerships.
(SanibLakas InfoShare)
Bulletin No. 1-2
(December 1, 1999)
|Cooperatives,
LGUs hold conference|
to strengthen
grassroots partnerships
MANILA,
December 1|(SanibLakas
InfoShare) "Mga kooperatiba at pamahalaang lokal, magsanib-lakas
tungo sa ganap ng kaunlarang pantao!" (Cooperatives and 
local
government units, synergize towards full human development!) This was the
spirit of the resolutions passed by leaders and other representatives of
the Philippine cooperative sector and of local government units especially
at the provincial level, numbering about three hundred, in their conference
held last November 9-10 at the Subic International Hotel.
The National Conference on Local Governance and Cooperative Development
was
jointly convened by the Philippine Cooperative Center (PCC), Union of Local
Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), League of Provinces of the Philippines
and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), with funding from the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its LGU-Cooperatives' Partneship
Project.
There were 278 participants, including 15 governors and about 100 LGU officials
and Union of Local Authorities (ULAP) staff, 150 national and local cooperative
leaders and other stakeholders such as donors, congress representatives,
basic sectoral groups and NGOs.
The Conference passed resolutions based on the following synthesis of discussions
on cooperative-LGU partnerships:
One, the expected role of the LGUs would be: legislation and implementation
or execution of laws and measures; budget allocation, and providing non-monetary
resources (like medicines, materials, etc.); signing of partnership MOAs
and contracts with coops; appointment of PCDOs, MCDOs, and CCDOs; undertaking
studies or researches on policy and/or technical matters (e.g. needs assessments,
inventory mapping); and accreditation of coops for membership in relevant
councils
all
to enable the cooperatives to enter into formal partnerships and joint
ventures with LGUs for the management, operation and co-ownership of LGU
enterprises and services.
Two, the expected counterpart role of the cooperatives is reflected in
these tasks: upgrading of their own management and technical capabilities
in order to enable themselves and their members to handle the various enterprises
and services in partnership with LGUs; education of their members; active
involvement in development councils and joint undertakings with LGUs; advocacy
or lobbying for special interests; support for LGUs in implementing local
laws, policies and ordinances; minimal counterparting of funds and other
material resources; humanpower resources; and efforts to become a major
source of capital formation.
Three, the mechanisms needed for building and further development of the
cooperative-LGU partnerships are: government legislations for creation
and/or strengthening of bodies and systems (like accreditation, monitoring,
councils, development offices, etc.); appointment of officers specifically
for dealing with coops; coordination mechanisms which need improved communications;
and formalization of joint agreements.
And four, the recognized challenges are the following: lack of political
will – prioritization in budgeting, in legislation, appointment of officers,
degree of concretization of plans; natural calamities, esp. in agriculture,
like typhoons, droughts and diseases; palakasan and other corruption factors
among both Coops and LGUs; lack of skills among both coops and LGUs; myopia
and parochialism among many coops and LGUs; limited resources, especially
funds; misguided/over-extension of funding support without the appropriate
capability building and social preparation; uncoordinated implementation
of various NGA, LGU and NGO programs and projects resulting in conflict
and cancellation of positive efforts; and the urgent need for massive acceptance
and institutionalization of genuine cooperative principles, particularly
self-reliance and cooperation in all levels of society.
The provincial governors present at the conference were Ma. Angelica
Rosedell Amante of Agusan del Norte; George P. Arnaiz, Negros Oriental;
Priscilla Chiongbian, Sarangani; Rafael Luz Coscuella, Negros Occidental;
Josie de la Cruz, Bulacan; Ildefonso Dulinayan, Ifugao; Vicente S.
Gato, Batanes; Raul R. Lee, Sorsogon; Rosalind Y. Lopez, Davao Oriental;
Vicente P. Magsaysay, Zambales; Francisco Matugas, Surigao del Norte;
Raul Molintas, Benguet; Madeliene Ong, Northern Samar; Hilario de Pedro
III, South Cotabato; and Josephine Y. Sato, Occidental Mindoro.
Before the opening of the conference proper, the cooperative leaders of
the country held their caucus at the site to settle among themselves the
desired direction of the cooperative movement. Two resource persons
were on hand for the caucus.
(a)
Romulo Villamin, the Director for Southeast Asia of the International Cooperative
Alliance (ICA), stressed that in an open, globalized and competitive market,
the individual strengths of (the successful) cooperatives must be harnessed,
build on what is existing and unleash the potential accumulated through
the years, with government providing only support through seed capital
or enabling laws.
(b)
Mr. Carlos Gavino, an LGU Financial Advisor (from the private sector) discussed
the Policy, Finanicng and Technical Issues of Joint Undertakings with LGUs.
More than 50 provincial cooperative development officers (PCDOs) who attended
had their own caucus and agreed to come out with a national alliance among
themselves, and shall be affiliated with the ULAP.
During the conference, former Bulacan Governor Roberto Pagdanganan,
presented the global and local perspectives for the cooperative movement,
citing the UNDP HDI report and highlighting the successes of the cooperative
movement in Germany, Japan and North America that have built up multinational
coops that are now competing in the world market and contibuting
a substantial amount to their governments, aside from serving as vehicles
for equity.
Gov. Larry de Pedro of South Cotabato presented the planned thrust of SOCSARGEN
(S. Cotabato, Saragani and General Santos City), which shall eventually
have a center in Koronadal (soon to be a city), to compete within the BIMP-East
Asia Growth Area. The cooperatives should then be prepared for this eventuallity,
with government providing the enabling environment for the coops to be
competitive.
For her part, Sec. Donna Gasconia discussed the role and status of the
National Anti-poverty Council (NAPC). It was noted by the Coop Development
Authority that the P250 M out of the P500 M Lingap (the other half is pork
barrel of congress) funds for micro-finance to be coursed through the 10
major coop federations has not moved (meaning that not one poorest of the
poor has benefitted yet from the fund). Immediately, after Donna's talk,
the coop federations had their caucus with her and CDA to come out with
strategies on how to facilitate the release.
Two books on cooperative were launched, namely, A Call
for Cooperative Revolution by former Gov. Roberto Pagdanganan and Effective
Local Governance for Cooperative Development by the PCC-UNDP-CDA.
(SanibLakas
InfoShare)
