Coop Philippines Marque Launched at 14th Summit

To establish the co-op brand and identity in the country, the Co-op Sector launched at the 14th National Cooperative Summit the Co-op Marque Philippines.

This is in line with International Cooperative Alliance thrust for “Vision 2020”, where and by which time the cooperative form of enterprise will be: 1) the acknowledged leader in economic, social and environmental sustainability; 2) the model preferred by people; and 3) the fastest growing enterprise. As lead convenor of the Summit, the launching of the Co-op Marque Philippines is also part of the effort of the Philippine Cooperative Center (PCC)  to reinforce its status as the Apex of cooperatives in the country; thus the adoption of a distinct cooperative identity through an official Coop Marque Philippines. The official unveiling of the Coop Marque Philippines was done during the 14th National Cooperative Summit last October 3-5 at the SMX Convention Center with more than 3,000 co-op leaders from all over the country attending.

Upon the initiative of the PCC, the marque was approved by the International Cooperative Alliance on March 19, 2018 as contained in an e-mail message from Finn Mc Cullagh of the ICA. Also recognizing the Coop Marque PHILIPPINES is the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), the sole government regulatory body for co-ops, whose officers were present at the Summit.   

On August 20, the PCC filed with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for the registration of said marque as official trademark for Philippine cooperatives. The proposal still awaits approval, which is expected to come by the end of the year.

Specific dimensions have been set on the proper use of the marque, initially for use on t-shirts, with standard dimensions for use in communications, stationeries, and marketing materials such as jackets, caps and signages to follow. All CDA-registered co-operatives are encouraged to display the marque on the front signages of their offices.The marque was also displayed on the official shirt at the 14th Summit. Said shirt is also the same design for what is called the “Integration Shirt” which will be worn by co-op employees all over the country.  Again, the shirt had been agreed upon by the regional “Integration Meetings” comprising co-op leaders. First to be agreed upon was for co-ops to adopt the “integration shirt”, deemed to be the easiest to accomplish.  Eventually, the goal would be to