DAVAO CITY — The regional office of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA 11) is granting amnesty to non-compliant cooperatives and those issued with show-cause and dissolution orders in Davao Region.
“What do we mean by amnesty? …when you are non-compliant or you are supposed to pay penalty fees, we will waive that for you,” Earl Larroder, CDA 11 legal officer, told media at the Kapihan sa PIA in this city last Friday.
He noted that this is the first time the CDA is affording errant cooperatives in the region amnesty and it is only being offered until April 30, 2024.
Mr. Larroder underscored that cooperatives that are issued with a show-cause order and cooperatives that are already issued with an order of dissolution may avail of this one-time amnesty.
He said the decision to accommodate cooperatives in these situations was reached in consideration of members interested in revitalizing their organization but were held back due to the disappearance of key members of their board of directors.
“Some members, specifically teachers, farmers are still interested in revitalizing their co-ops. They just don’t know how. This is the reason why we created this amnesty program to simplify the processes of revitalizing and rehabilitating their cooperatives,” he said.
Mr. Larroder said there are more than 1,000 cooperatives in Davao Region and 882 of them are compliant. Around 200 or 300 others have been issued with show-cause orders and orders of dissolution.
To qualify for amnesty, the non-compliant micro, medium, or large cooperative must be willing to undergo an audit by a CDA-accredited external auditor to establish financial capability.
Also at least 75 percent or ¾ of the total number of members must not be less than 15 and that these 15 members or ¾ of the membership of the cooperative must have signif ied intention to enlist in a reorientation seminar.
He emphasized that the amnesty program is the CDA’s initiative to give cooperatives one last chance to regain their compliance. — Maya M. Padillo
