Saturday, February 03, 2007 Diwalwal coops also lack accounting skills By Grace L. Plata
LIKE its Davao City counterparts, most cooperatives in Diwalwal, Monkayo in Compostela Valley are ill equipped in terms of administrative and accounting skills necessary for smooth and continuous operations.
According to Fe Jayme Calapotoc of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), they conducted leadership trainings for members of the Compostela Valley Federation of Mining Cooperatives to address this problem.
DSWD is the lead agency for socio-economic and safety nets of the Task Force Diwalwal.
The trainings are focused on two main objectives -- introducing the coop members to parliamentary procedure to ensure quality participation and order during meetings and to equip coop members with bookkeeping skills necessary for the completion of the annual financial report mandated by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
Non-compliance with the CDA mandate would mean a coop is no longer operational, thus it cannot become beneficiary of aid and loans granted by the government.
Calapotoc added that they have also conducted trainings on organization management and basic entrepreneurship last year for the leaders of the United Tribal Council of Elders and the tribal youth leaders.
As proof of their learning, Calapotoc said the youth council has already submitted a proposal on tilapia culture, which is currently being studied by the Socio-Economic Task Group and will be approved for implementation soon.
The cooperatives as well as the councils of tribal elders and youth are placed under continued monitoring by the task group to guide and ensure its steady growth.
