THE CITY Cooperative Development Office (CCDO) has organised various activities to celebrate National Cooperative Month in October.
This year’s cooperative month celebration will have the national theme: “Coop Pinas, nagkakaisang lakas para sa makabuluhan at sama-samang pag-unlad”. In the city, it will be “Kasikas sa kooperatiba, padayon sa pag-unlad.”
CCDO officer-in-charge Luzminda Eblamo, during the Madayaw Davao program aired over the Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday, said this year’s cooperative month celebration would be launched on Oct. 3 with a thanksgiving mass and flag raising ceremony.
Eblamo said an inter-cooperative Sports Event would be held on Oct. 10 to 19 to push for stronger camaraderie, good health, and teamwork among the hundreds of cooperatives in the city.
On Oct. 10, 12, 14, 17, and 19, a bowling tournament will be held at the Dover Lanes on Bonifacio Street from 6 p.m. onwards. Meanwhile, on Oct. 15, a badminton tournament will take place at the Smash N Drop on San Pedro Extension Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eblamo said several cooperatives of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have signed up for the Cooperative Trade Fair and Exhibit, which will showcase their “locally-sourced products to a ready market.”
The fair, coordinated with the Mindanao Trade Exposition, will be at the Abreeza Mall from October 18 to 22.
During the trade fair, participating cooperatives will compete for the “Best Booth” and “Best Attire” contests.
On Oct. 20, the CCDO will conduct a Cooperative Leaders Conversation with the Business Bureau, Cooperative Development Authority, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Food and Drug Authority, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labor and Employment. Eblamo said speakers from the participating agencies would answer questions from cooperative members concerning cooperative permits, tax exemptions and packages, licensing and regulatory requirements.
The culmination program for the month-long celebration will be on October 29 at the Mergrande Ocean Resort from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. During the program, the Sports Event games and trade fair winners will be awarded.
She added that the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Davao City Water District (DCWD) and several Davao City cooperatives that will pledge to become “adopters” under the DCWD’s Adopt-a-Site program would also be signed during the culmination program.
The MOA will obligate each adopter to a yearly donation of P6,000 for every hectare of land that will be rehabilitated and replanted in order to help conserve the city’s watershed areas.
Eblamo said the celebration will not only serve the city’s cooperative groups in their quest for economic development but will also remind them of the importance of ethical, sustainable, and inclusive growth.
“The essence is to make sure that we have inclusive growth. Ibig sabihin, hindi lang si kooperatiba ang lumalaki, sabay-sabay sa kanilang mga miyembro (This means that not only should the cooperative grow, but all their members at them same time). So for the government sector, we try our best to give the support system for these cooperatives to thrive,” Eblamo said.
