ZUBIRI: COOPS ARE A MAJOR, MAJOR FORCE
IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Regional coop roadshow & consultation forum kicks off in Baguio City

BAGUIO CITY- The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Cooperatives led by its chairmen Senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri and Representative Jose Ping-Ay today (Thursday, February 24) launched the regional leg of the cooperative roadshow and consultation forum in Baguio City. The event is attended by more than 300 cooperative leaders from the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The Senate and House of Representatives sponsored project aims to explain in simple language the rules and regulations of RA 9520 or the Cooperative Code of the Philippines, specifically on BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) policies and guidelines for granting tax exemptions to cooperatives.

"Today is another milestone in our effort to carry out the real objectives of the cooperative law which is to empower our communities through our cooperatives and in the process contribute to the economic development of our country. Coops are a major, major force in our economic growth" Zubiri, principal author of the new Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, said.

According to Zubiri, there are about 78,000 cooperatives all over the country that waited so long for the tax exemption so they could operate with ease or without worrying about financial restrictions.

"We need to ease up the burden of our coops and make it more convenient for them as well as our BIR officers to deal and transact with each other," Zubiri who has been hailed as the "father of the cooperative code" stressed further adding that "this is the third leg of our nationwide coop roadshow project that started in Metro Manila in January. We are overwhelmed with the support of our coop leaders from CAR and we look forward to the same enthusiasm from other regions and provinces."

The cooperative roadshow project is a nationwide campaign sponsored by the Joint Oversight Congressional Committee on Cooperatives (JOCCC) in cooperation with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the local government units (LGUs).

The Coop Code was signed into law in March 2009. It has been hailed as a landmark legislation that empowered coops to professionalize their management and operation, while providing monitoring and evaluation tools for them to conduct self-assessments in terms of its managerial, financial, and social objectives.