The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) has bared plans to create a special type of cooperative federation that would offer e-commerce-related products to accelerate digitization of cooperative operations nationwide.
In a news statement, CDA said that it intends to create a special type of secondary cooperative called Technology Service Cooperative (TSC) that would be composed of at least 15 registered cooperatives.
The CDA added that the TSC will offer technology services to its co-operative-members.
“The organized cooperatives are expected to pool their resources so as to introduce technological innovations, particularly in supporting cooperatives across the country through e-commerce, portals and innovative ways of bridging the gap in market access,” CDA Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary Mryla B. Paradillo said.
CDA Assistant Secretary Vidal Villanueva III said the TSC is “a response to the changing needs” of the country’s cooperative industry.
Villanueva added that the new special type of cooperative will provide an opportunity “to build the digital infrastructure” of the co-operative movement nationwide.
“This is also a clear demonstration that CDA is receptive and flexible to what is beneficial to the sector and community in general,” Villanueva, head of the CDA’s Credit and Financial Services, Banking, Insurance, and Credit Surety Fund Cooperatives Cluster, said.
“One of the dreams of Philippine cooperatives is to be part of the national payment management system. To be able to do that, the special type of cooperative needs to comply with the requirements of other regulatory bodies—in particular, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” he added.
Under the draft guidelines for TSCs, the area of operation of the new special type of secondary co-operative could be city/municipality, provincial, regional, inter-regional or national level.
The draft guidelines also stipulated that 25 percent of TSCs authorized share capital shall be subscribed by its members and at least 25 percent of the subscribed share capital shall be paid by the members before registration.
“The minimum paid-up share capital shall be P50,000,000.00 or the amount required in the feasibility study, whichever is higher,” the draft guidelines read.
The registration fee for a new TSC shall be one-tenth of 1 percent of its total paid-up share capital or P5,000, whichever is higher, according to the draft guidelines.
“An additional legal research fee equivalent to 1 percent of the fee
imposed shall be collected, but in no case shall the amount be lower than
P10.00,” it added.