About 150 coops in Cebu City are 'mismanaged'

CEBU - About half of the estimated 300 cooperatives based in Cebu City are not successful in their business because of mismanagement, said Cooperative Development Authority Central Visayas acting regional director Marlene Estrella.

Estrella said they encouraged the officials of these different cooperatives to undergo training to learn more good techniques on how to manage a cooperative.

She said the most common mistakes of the cooperative officials is the failure to collect the loans granted to their members, thus causing them severe losses.

Councilor Arsenio Pacana, chairman of the City Council committee on cooperatives, agreed that many of the cooperatives in Cebu have failed to succeed due to lack of budget, while the others incurred severe loses due to mismanagement.

Meanwhile, the Cebu City Cooperative Development Council headed by Punta Princesa barangay captain Rolly Diorico joins the other cooperatives throughout the country in celebrating Cooperative Month.

As part of the line-up of activities, seminar workshops will be conducted on financial matters, cooperative taxation, and the manual of rules and regulations on October 17 and 18.

The cooperative officials will also visit some of the successful cooperatives in Cebu, including the Cordova Multi-Purpose Cooperative so they will know their techniques.

In Cebu City, one of the most successful cooperatives is the CFI Cooperative that was organized by former Court of First Instance judge Esperanza Fiel-Garcia, wife the former governor and now Cebu second district Rep. Pablo Garcia.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who was asked to speak before the cooperative officials, encouraged them to unite their members in order to succeed.

“United we stand, divided we fall,” he said, adding that in Singapore, the cooperatives are very successful because they have the support of the government. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP (THE FREEMAN)