Cooperative Development Authority Deputy Administrator Rey Elevazo urges all policy makers, government agencies, cooperative leaders, employees, and members, to actively contribute to the realization of the 2028 Philippine Cooperative Development Plan.
QUEZON CITY – The 2028 Philippine Cooperative Development Plan (PCDP) will have a threefold impact if implemented: Economic, Social, and Cultural impact if implemented.
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Deputy Administrator Rey Elevazo presented to some 100 co-op leaders at the held at the Ardenhills Suites the yet-to-be-released PDCP for 2025 to 2028, which is the result of consultations with co-op leaders nationwide and is in line with the Philippine Development Plan as well as the National Economic Development Authority’s (renamed the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Ambisyon 2040.
“Republic Act 11364 mandates the CDA to formulate, adopt and implement integrated and comprehensive plans and programs on on cooperative development consistent with the national policy on cooperatives and establish an integrated framework on cooperative development with all government agencies, Elevazo said.
He emphasized that the Government intends for the plan to be contributed to by all in order to be accomplished.
“In this mandate, all of us are involved. This is based on Ambisyon 2040 and the Philippine Development Plan – in the Philippine cooperative context. The PCDP was crafted not just for the cooperative sector, but with the cooperative sector,” he said.
“Dito po isinilang ang PCDP. The CDA, co-op sector, and stakeholders like NGOs, local government units, and other government agencies, the academe and international organizations will be pulled in to help in this endeavor,” he added.
In emphasizing the concerted efforts of all stakeholders in implementing such an ambitious project, he said: “we initially looked at the challenges faced. Of course the co-op sector does not exist alone. There other considerations like regulations, political, economic and social. Workshops were conducted by CDA through meetings and online consultations. The Sectoral Apex Organizations (SAOs) and the National Alliance of Cooperatives (NAC) were tapped as well for inputs.”
According to Elevazo, the creators of the PCDP arrived at Specific Priority Areas (SPAs).
He said President Ferdinand Marcos gave directives for the sector to use as guidelines.
Citing the 2023 State of the Nation Address, the President’s emphasis is clearly on agriculture cooperatives which are lagging behind other types of cooperatives in terms of sustainability and asset size.
“More focus will be on agriculture cooperatives. Hahanapin natin sila ng paraan at resources kung paano lumaki.”
There are three Impact Areas being eyed: Economic Transformation, Social Transformation, and Cultural Transformation.
For the Economic Transformation, the plan is to have wealth creation, job opportunities, market linkages for cooperatives, increased savings, creation of enterprises, and collective investments.
For social transformation, the aim is to reduce poverty where more of the poor are able to “graduate” from poverty, increase food production, and increase access to health services and education.
For cultural transformation, Elevazo reminded the co-op leaders: “Cooperatives should adopt to global standards in their goods and services. But never forget the welfare of members and to aim for larger domestic and international markets. Our primary market is our membership!”
Also in the area of Cultural Transformation, the means will be inclusion or the participation of women, partnership with public, private and civil society organizations, and development partners.
He said Filipinos must have the cooperative mindset to develop a culture of cooperation — and it starts with the leaders.
To realize these aims, cooperatives will have to firstly develop their people – leaders, management, staff, and members; provide excellent services to members, increase access of Filipinos to finance, and networking to establish or strengthen business links or networks.
Elevazo stressed that the CDA alone cannot execute this plan. Cooperatives – with the initiative of the leaders – will have to govern their cooperatives well.
Then cooperatives leaders must develop the human capital of the employees.
When members trust the cooperative, he said it will “ensure capital build-up – both internal and external – from legitimate sources.”
You, the cooperatives, are the players in every part of the value chain. Whether it’s the value chain of your members, or the external market. So that is why we have included the value chain in the PCDP.
In concluding, Elevazo reminded the leaders present: “In our success, we are forgetting to advocate. We are forgetting to plant more flowers so more flowers will bloom. Let’s not forget to advocate the Cooperative Identity because that is the essence of cooperativism.”
