This is not only a bit of good news amidst the bad conditions the country
Is in right now.
It is the biggest news for every Juan, Jose, Pedro and Josefa and Juanita!
HB 1474, sponsored by Agusan Sur 1st Dist. Congw. Maria Valentina Plaza, proposes amending the Cooperatives Development Authority Act and thereby creating the Department of Cooperatives.
On Nov. 21, 2016, just four weeks ago, CabSec Chief Leoncio “Jun” Evasco called for a national consultative meeting at the Palace. Summoned were officers of various cooperative unions and federations nationwide which geographically represented concerned stakeholders.
That poverty is the major culprit in our lives is very obvious.
It is the malicious dragon that needs to be slain.
As you can see, more and more Filipinos cannot find employment and decent livelihood in their homeland and are boldly taking the bull by its horns, seeking employment abroad to provide the basic necessities their families need.
More than 42% of Filipino families, according to the latest SWS survey done in September this year, rated themselves poor. Of this, 36% were from Metro Manila, 34% in Luzon, 56% in the Visayas and 49% in Mindanao.
Poverty, for your layman’s understanding, is the result of the unfair and inequitable distribution of wealth.
Cooperatives development is the answer to this basic problem.
That is why I am happy to report that during the Nov. 21 assembly, I witnessed personally the eager readiness of the cooperatives stakeholders to welcome HB 1474.
Led by the CDA chair, Atty. Orlando Ravanera, the attendees voiced their united approval and support of the Plaza bill, an action that elicited a confident smile from Sec. Evasco who sat during the entire four-hour proceedings.
Ravanera publicly admitted that the present setup in the CDA like the lack of logistics and competent personnel prevents the agency from pursuing its objectives as efficiently and as competently as possible.
Three of the five principal co-authors – Rep. Prospero Pichay and partylist congressmen Rico Geron and Sabiano Canama – strongly urged the cooperative sector as well as those in government to extend sincere support to HB 4174.
From way, way back, our bureaucratic government set up has prevented Filipinos from achieving financial freedom. We need to unshackle ourselves of these chains of bondage.
Look at Israel. It grew progressively because of the creation of the Kibbutz, a cooperative movement that started as a farming community.
Today, these kibbutzims are Israel’s source of revenues that export elegant and high quality finished materials imported by many foreign countries – computer hardware and software, military equipment, aircraft technology, beauty products, organic health products, etc., etc.
Filipinos, by nature, are hardworking and industrious just like the Israelis.
Unfortunately, politics – patronage and negotiable politics – lamost always gets in the way of progress and development.
We have, sadly speaking, too many geniuses in our midst. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.). God bless the Philippines!
