During a meeting with employees of Mandaluyong City, Pagdanganan stressed that the idea of "cooperative banking," should be developed because commercial banks could not be expected to embrace the concept of cooperativism.
Mandaluyong City has about a hundred registered cooperatives but only 60 percent are in full operation. The representatives of local operatives explained that such a situation is borne out of lack of support from the national government.
Pagdanganan acknowledged that lack of funds hampered most cooperatives, especially in the area of lending privileges. "Regular interest rate for loans in commercial banks is pegged at 12 percent. So, we are hoping we can extend loans to our members at a lower rate but we cannot do this at present without assistance," said Crispin Malicdem, Mandaluyong Assistant Cooperative officer.
Malicdem added that a centralized system of cooperatives would alleviate the situation of coops all over the country.
For his part, Mayor Benhur Abalos lauded the initiative of the national government, particularly Pagdanganan for finding time to visit the local cooperatives.
"At this time of economic difficulty, we need to act in unison. Cooperatives indeed need to be revolutionized and provided with significant attention," said Abalos. – Non Alquitran