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Saturday, October 11, 2008
Coops untouched by global crunch
BAGUIO CITY -- While most financial institutions worry in the midst of the current growing global financial crisis, cooperatives are unmoved.
Licera Juarez, chairperson of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), said Friday the cooperatives in the country will in fact cushion the impact of the crisis, particularly on the masses.
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Unlike other institutions that depend on the movement of the global stock market, coops are not destined to suffer the same setback as what other institutions, such as the commercial banks, are worried of, Juarez said.
The Philippine shares on Friday have plummeted for the sixth straight session, tracking a global sell-off as investors rush to cut losses.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 190.64 points, or 8.3 percent, at 2,097.80. It has lost 19.7 percent since October 16.
Also, decliners outnumbered gainers 135 to 7, with 12 stocks unchanged. All sectors ended in the red.
In an Associated Press report, Claire Quiray, analyst with Accord Capital Equities Inc., said "fear and uncertainty" continue to rule investor sentiments.
Grace Cerdenia, managing director of 2tradeasia.com, also said the global sell-off is pressuring local clients to "sell even at a loss."
Juarez, however, said that cooperative stakeholders are spared from the repercussions of the erratic interest rates, which more often escalate when the stock markets fall.
She said coop members are not subject to the same irregular rates because cooperatives have fixed rate impositions.
"(Cooperatives) are never a failure in the (country's) economic system," Juarez said, owing this to the coops' adherence to the principle of self-reliance.
Juarez graced the First Benguet Cooperative Convention held Wednesday as part of the celebration of the cooperative month. The CDA is the agency mandated to supervise the operations of cooperatives.
The country's 15,000 cooperatives, which are operating and updated in reporting, have an accounted asset of around P90 billion, according to Juarez.
There are around 70,000 CDA registered coops in the country. However, Juarez said that about 20,000 of these are actively operating and 15,000 are religiously submitting their reports to the CDA.
Cooperatives in the region have a reported total asset of more than P5 billion. The region has 2,205 CDA registered coops, but only 666 are currently operating.
In Benguet, 235 registered coops are actively operating with a combined asset of more than P1.13 billion. (JC/Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (October 11, 2008 issue)
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