Tuesday, March 11, 2008 Arroyo hails Mindanao coops By Danilo V. Adorador III
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday hailed Mindanao's cooperatives as engines of growth and drivers of the island's economy, even as he exhorted them to continue helping the government's poverty alleviation measures.
"Mindanaoans are well aware of the advantages of cooperatives. The success of the cooperative spirit shows what profit, innovation and competitiveness can do to achieve social justice," the President said, addressing the 4th Mindanao Cooperative Summit at The Atrium of the Lim Ket Kai Center Monday.
Mindanao is fast becoming the country's cooperative center, President Arroyo said, noting that at least one of the 10 adults in the island is a cooperative member.
"This is an impressive ratio, and I do hope cooperatives in the island will multiply - the fact that out of the 100 best cooperatives in the country, 30 are based here. We envision that these cooperatives will join the biggest businesses in Mindanao in the coming years," she said.
Mindanao-based cooperatives - numbering 4,211 in all - turned in some P25 billion in business volume in 2006, employing at least 29,124, according to the data provided by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
Cooperatives have greatly contributed to the government's micro-finance programs, Arroyo said, noting that 60 percent of Mindanao's coops are engaged in microlending - providing an alternative credit system for the poor.
"When we bring in investments including the cooperatives' investments and create jobs, our people have a more stable and predictable life. And with more investments come more tax revenues that can be invested in schools, roads and bridges as well as healthcare, education and the environment," she said.
But the President acknowledged that in spite of the cooperatives' contributions to the economy, coops are confronted with issues on taxation. She said the matter should be let for the courts to decide.
Coop leaders seized the occasion to present to the President their woes, chiefly the position of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to impose taxes on cooperatives.
First Community Cooperative (Ficco), the country's largest cooperative, had earlier disclosed that it has received series of tax assessments from the BIR in Northern Mindanao in the past few years.
Lawyer Isidro Q. Lico, Ficco chairman, argued that under the law, cooperatives are 100 percent exempted from taxes. He urged Congress to pass a separate legislation underlining that exemption "to prevent the BIR from harassing us and for the courts from legislating on taxes."
A Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Visayas had earlier ruled in favor of taxing savings deposits of cooperatives, lawyer Lico disclosed. The case is now pending at the Visayas Court of Appeals (CA).
Attended by hundreds of cooperative leaders from the six regions of Mindanao, the summit was anchored on the theme "Sustaining the Economy, Achieving Ecological Integrity, Empowering Communities Yes, Cooperative Can.
