THE COOPERATIVE Development Authority (CDA) XI issued 70 show-cause orders and 50 dissolution orders to 120 illegal co-ops in Davao City this year.
During the Kapihan sa PIA on Oct. 20, Atty. Earl Larroder, CDA XI legal officer, said they follow specific grounds and processes before they issue notices to the suspected illegal cooperatives in line with Article 67 of the Republic Act 9520, also known as the “Cooperative Codes of 2008”.
Larroder said a cooperative is considered illegal if “it only has less than fifteen members already, not executing business operations, no cooperative signages, and has already an issue of dissolution order but continuously operates.”
He also notes that illegal cooperatives will first be issued a show cause order, allowing them to explain their side of the story. The CDA will issue a notice of hearing for an unresponsive cooperative before the dissolution order, which means the business may retain its identity but its privileges are revoked.
During the order of dissolution, cooperatives must start the liquidation process, pay first any creditors and the government for any unpaid taxes, and must be able to give the money back to each of the members of the cooperatives.
“The liability by assumption of law is with the board of directors, so hindi ibig sabihin na ikaw ay BOD, tanggap-tanggap ka ng honorarium, wala ka nang liability. Kapag ang kooperatiba ay under dissolution o ilegal na, kayo ang hahabulin ng batas,” Larroder said.
Larroder said they are still lenient with these cooperatives’ situations, as some of them are unable to reach and come from far-flung areas.
“We try to help them kung saan ba sila nagkakamali. We ask our field, our cooperative development specialist, trying to uplift them para mag-cooperate ulit ang kanilang business,” he said.
He also said they give cooperatives a maximum of two years to settle their businesses.
Currently, there are a total of 1,011 operating cooperatives in Davao Region with the CDA XI recording a 90% settlement rate for cooperative disputes in Davao City.
