PRESS RELEASE:

PCC Celebrates the National Cooperative Month

Cooperatives: Stronger Together Today for a Brighter Tomorrow

The Philippine Cooperative Center joins cooperators all over the Philippines in celebrating the National Cooperative Month.

The National Cooperative Month celebration is mandated by Republic Act 11502 or An Act Declaring the Month of October of Every Year as the National Cooperative Month.

This year’s theme, “Cooperatives: Stronger Together Today for a Brighter Tomorrow,” highlights the cooperative value of solidarity. The tradition of working together for a solidarity economy is ingrained in the key cooperative principles:

(1) Democratic Member Control – solidarity in decision-making
(2) Member Economic Participation – solidarity in economic building
(3) Cooperation among Cooperatives – greater solidarity for collective sectoral action
(4) Concern for Community – solidarity that extends beyond the borders of cooperative membership

Cooperative solidarity is observed in the collective and joint efforts of its members in achieving a greater common goal. This comes from the cooperative’s identity in the grassroots where the solidarity of workers, farmers, and consumers brought forth the first cooperatives.

The International Cooperative Alliance’s study on the cooperative mission and identity drifting mentions the tendency of cooperatives to be more corporatist in their values and principles, forgoing solidarity for self-interest or organizational self-centeredness. This causes competition instead of complementation. This mission drift is also seen in primary cooperatives as grassroots members are disenfranchised in their own cooperatives.

Thus, it is important that we are reminded of the value of solidarity as the key for cooperatives’ success, not just as a social enterprise, but as a movement and way of living. More than internal cooperative sector solidarity, let us be reminded that cooperatives’ solidarity extends beyond its members. True solidarity trickles down to the grassroots communities.

In celebration of the National Cooperative Month, let us call for solidarity beyond the rigid contours of our membership. Let us call for cooperatives to view themselves, not as exclusive member domains, but as inclusive platforms for change, especially in aid of the marginalized and the grassroots.

All of this for society’s Brighter Tomorrow.

October List of Activities:

Sectoral Apex Organization Finance Cluster Congress – October 10, 2024 (Prepared by the SAO Finance Cluster)

PCC Community Development Activity: Community Tree Planting and Service for the Aged – October 11, 2024 (Prepared by the PCC Secretariat)

Capturing the Cooperative Vote: Discussions for the Cooperative Legislative Agenda – TBA (Prepared by the Members of the National Union of Cooperatives TWG)

Orientation on Labor Laws – October 24, 2024 (Prepared by the PCC Secretariat)

Contacts:

Cheska Guinto-Garais

Officer in Charge

Ray Santiago

Writer/Researcher

09564490166