COTABATO CITY — Local government officials are keen on organizing entrepreneurs throughout Cotabato province into cooperatives, Gov. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza said on Sunday.
Her office, for example, is getting in touch with those who have small businesses, including residents engaged in traditional crafts, in order to connect them with traders in town centers as well as potential capitalists outside Region 12.
Ms. Talino-Mendoza, who chairs the Regional Development Council-12 (RDC_12), believes in the strength of cooperatives and their value to businesses. Last Friday, she awarded citations to four cooperatives voted as most outstanding cooperatives in Cotabato province for 2023, based on a survey related to the nationwide observance of the Cooperatives Month.
The awardees were the Carmen Transport Cooperative, the Libungan Marketing Cooperative, the Cotabato Electric Cooperative Employees Group, and the Santa Catalina Cooperative.
The four cooperatives awarded in a ceremony in Kidapawan City now have millions worth of assets and are known good taxpayers, according to the local executives in the towns they operate.
“It is my mission, as governor and as chairperson of RDC-12, to help organize entrepreneurs in Cotabato province into cooperatives for local commerce and trade to become even more robust,” Ms. Talino-Mendoza said.
Vice Mayor Ralph H. Rafael of Matalam and Mayor Rolly C. Sacdalan of Midsayap said Sunday they will support the plan of the governor to facilitate the creation of more cooperatives by reaching out to their Christian and Muslim constituents engaged in small barangay-based enterprises. — John Felix D. Unson
