By Ed Aurelio C. Reyes
President, SanibLakas ng Taongbayan Foundation
.
MANY COOPERATIVE leaders and members are familiar with the definitions of both the terms "synergism" and "cooperatives."   However, there is need for focused education on both of them because familiarity is never enough to meet the challenge of dynamically applying the principle of synergism in the very essence and lifepulse of the Philippine cooperative movement as a whole and in the essence and  lifepulse of every single particular cooperative.
.
....................On both concepts,  textual and theoretical understanding  has to be deepened and validated by experiential knowledge, something that cannot be acquired within the four walls of a seminar room and within the time span of a few days.

....................On matters regarding the building, formalization, registration, expansion, consolidation and operation of cooperatives, the standard education courses and modules would seem to suffice if not exceed the basic needs for these aspects of cooperative life to flow.  But we submit that there has been almost nothing, if not indeed nothing,  when it comes to focused education on the synergism principle itself.

....................Because of this, cooperative life goes on, as it obviously does go on, but leaves much to be desired in terms of quality operations and growth, precisely because the very soul of the needed dynamic unity is not really there. It is therefore not at all surprising that many cooperative leaders and members would not be disturbed at all that their cooperatives have been built and is continually running, mainly on the basis of resources accepted or even begged for from external sources.

....................They do not realize that this kind of dependence, no matter how lucrative it may be for the cooperatives concerned, negates their very identity as cooperatives and that it has stripped them of the right to keep calling themselves such.
Lack of education and lack of application of the synergetic essence of cooperatives is also at the root of common situations where only the officers are active while the members would not even attend regular meetings.

....................Certain privileges are accorded cooperatives by virtue of the Cooperative Code, because of their supposed nature and service to society, but unfortunately many cooperatives have not kept their part of the covenant. We do not impute malice on the part of anyone for this situation.  We are just pointing out that something very important has been missing in our cooperative education work, and that is the imperative of learning and consciously applying the principle of synergism for the sake of the cooperatives themselves and ultimately for the sake of our nation.

Synergism as a Powerful Principle

....................Synergism, which roughly translates into the coined Filipino word, "sanib-lakas" is a powerful principle and phenomenon in society and in nature.   It spells the big difference between a basketball team with teamwork and another which does not; it spells the difference between an organism and a mere collection of cells; it spells the difference between the exciting variety of symphony music and the single-instrument monotony; it spells the difference between nationhood and a mere collection of people who have found themselves forcibly kept together in the same island, between the so-called "dog-eat-dog" Law of the Jungle and the symbiosis of biodiversity with ecosystem harmony.

....................Togetherness in synergy magnifies the total capability of a group many times greater than the sum of capabilities they would have when they are working separately.  And in this context, the strength of a group is further enhanced if there is a healthy diversity of characteristics, a healthy interplay of varied roles.

....................A lot of questions have to be answered if we are to maximize the potentials of synergism in our work, in our very lives, as cooperatives, as teams, as families, as communities, as a nation, and even as the entire human race.
Some of these questions are: Where does the value-added strength come from in a synergy?  Why can we consider the "walis-tingting" a usable but defective symbol for synergy?  What is synergetic leadership in contrast to "Superman," "martyr-type" or dictatorial styles of leadership?  Which would work for sustainable enterprises? Which is more crucial, the quality of the leaders or the quality of the members? Why?

....................Indeed there is much more to the principle of synergism than we see in a painting of men carrying a rural house together!

....................The sheer number of aspects that we need to look into in studying this principle would already require a full day of lively sharing and discussion.  Imbibing the principle in successful application or even in failed attempts at application would also take considerable stretches of quality time.  Of course this is so if we are serious about studying the principle and making it work wonders in the cooperatives, if we are interested to learn it fully enough to be able to fully and accurately share it with others, if we are not to be satisfied in just knowing what synergism is generally about.

....................The design of focused education on synergism would have a series of graduated seminars set apart by stretches of enough time periods for imbibing, experiencing and enjoying the principle's application, (SanibLakas ng Taongbayan Foundation has prepared a course design with specific modules, which may be availed of by arrangement. Each module combine lectures, group dynamics and workshop with very useful outputs.)

Synergism in the Definition of Cooperatives:

....................A cooperative is defined by the Cooperative Code of the Philippines (Article 3) as "a duly registered  association of persons, with a common bond of interest, who have voluntarily joined together to achieve a lawful common social or economic end, making equitable contributions to the capital required and accepting a fare share of the risks and benefits of the undertaking in accordance with universally accepted cooperative principles."

....................Another authoritative definition, made by  Silvano Bausing, MASS-SPEC Assistant Secretary General, says a cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise."  Bausing wrote the article "Beginning, Nature and Principles of Cooperatives" which was cited by Pagdanganan in the book we have mentioned above.

....................The poem "Smile for Synergy," penned by this writer in May 1999, describes "bayanihan and the cooperatives (as) the synergy of  community efforts and resources for the common good."

....................Two elements have to be stressed in applying the synergism principle on the very definition of cooperatives as stated above: one, there are members each with resources to contribute to a common enterprise and readiness to face risks in a substantial stakeholdership; and, two, these voluntarily band together, and really do band together in earnest, bringing in substantial amounts of human and material resources, to make the enterprise work and grow.

....................Synergism looks into both the quality of the average member and the quality of their banding together.  If the members have nothing they are willing to bring in, there would be nothing to synergize except perhaps their names; if the members only want to contribute their excess coins and would logically be interested in the cooperative only to degree symbolized by those excess coins, then there are only "the barya-barya," their passing concern and spare time of the members to synergize, aside from their names. If the manner of banding together, as embodied by the organizational systems and its structures and member habits, is weak and defective, then the degree of synergizing anything will be lacking or almost nil.

....................The nature of the cooperative's capital stock is referred to in a definition above as coming in from the members themselves; the definitions do not acknowledge the externally-provided loans, grants or investments as a legitimate source of the bulk of cooperative funds.

....................The legitimate way for cooperatives to increase their resources is therefore the increase of contributions from the members, making the latter risk more and feel more substantial stakeholdership instead of making them give only the equivalent of a week's supply of cigarettes or liquor and then wondering why they seem not to care much about how the cooperative fares with its enterprises.

....................The next legitimate way is to increase the number of such kind of members, that is, to expand membership without lowering its quality. If we choose to spare the membership from this kind and magnitude of risk by securing external capital, so that we can recruit more and more members, we would be getting members of the kind that would expect much but risk very minimally, members who would support and thrive in the mentality of dependence on external sources, a glaring violation of the nature of real cooperatives.

Basic Principles of Cooperativism

....................In his book, A Call for Cooperative Revolution, the established exemplary leader and champion of contemporary cooperativism in this country, former Bulacan Gov. Roberto "Obet" Pagdanganan, shares with us an enumeration and point for point elucidation of the Basic Principles of Cooperativism, as enumerated by the International Cooperative Alliance.  Under every Basic Principle, which we italicize here and put between quote marks, we add a paragraph or two to relate the point to the application of the synergism principle

First Principle: Voluntary and Open Membership
        "Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and are willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination."

....................This voluntary nature of cooperatives as organizations should be seen in the vibrancy of members, showing that indeed they volunteered and were not forced to join, that they are enthusiastic and not reluctant or half-hearted members forcibly recruited by overzealous leaders. Openness would mean they are being enthusiastically embraced into the synergy and not merely allowed to come in.

Second Principle: Democratic Member Control
        "Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are also organized in a democratic manner."

....................Democratic organizations are characterized by three synergies among the leaders and members -- the synergy of the minds shining in democratic decision-making, the synergy of hearts beating in a high collective morale and determination, and the synergy of the muscles where all members are willing to work to implement plans and decisions.

Third Principle: Member Economic Participation
        "Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative.  At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condi-tion of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing  their cooperative  possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible, benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative, and supporting other activities approved by the membership."

....................The cooperative capital build-up would be based mainly on the surpluses that remain collectively owned (and not distributed as dividends), and not mainly from external funding.

Fourth Principle: Autonomy and Independence
        "Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by members and maintain their cooperative autonomy."

....................The key-word term here is self-help which would be qualified as collective self-help in the context of cooperatives as organizations.

Fifth Principle: Education, Training and Information
        "Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representa-tives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public particularly young people about the nature and benefits of cooperation."

....................Such education should give due focus to the principle of synergism which is at the core of cooperative essence, and should enable all members to effectively participate in cooperative activities and grow as human persons, as productive citizens and as successful entrepreneurs

Sixth Principle: Cooperation among Cooperatives
        "Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures."

....................Groups of cooperatives doing bigger enterprises together through formal and informal structures can indeed make the entire cooperative sector grow and fulfill the realizable dreams called for in Obet Pagdanganan's book.  At the same time, the challenge issued to millionaire cooperatives is to replace non-cooperative funders as available sources of seed capital for new and fledgling cooperatives and bail-out funds for cooperatives in distress.

Seventh Principle: Concern for Community
        "Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members."

....................This dovetails with Obet Pagdanganan's challenge that the cooperative sector be a really strong pillar of the Philippine economy, and with Ms. Robledo's call before VICTO's 25th Congress in 1998 for the cooperative movement to educate the rest of the Filipino people about the successful application of the synergism principle.  Successful cooperatives can also replace foreign donors from the latter's creucial roles in supporting non-government organizations that are pursuing various advocacies for the people's empowerment and upliftment.

THESE ARE the Basic Principles of Cooperativism and how the principle of synergism can be applied as we invoke them.

...................Each of these points really deserve to be discussed and comprehended in shared learning experiences. And, of course, even the learning process itself should be an enthusiastic synergetic activity.