Tabuk City, Kalinga – During the Koop Kapehan with Regional Director Marieta Hwang of Cooperative Development Authority-CAR as guest, Governor Ferdinand Tubban underscored the importance of leaders focusing on the betterment of their members, not merely on the business and profit.
According to the governor, there should be a shift towards an alternative development paradigm called Cooperativism in order for people to progress. People must have access to their resources and control over their wealth, which can be achieved through shared governance and transparency.
Tubban pointed this in his message delivered by Provincial Administrator, Atty. William Puday Jr. during the event held on October 20, 2021 at the Golden Berries Hotel, San Juan, Tabuk City.
The event, as he described, signifies the resilience of cooperativism not only in the province but in the region.
The governor stressed that the success of cooperatives is not seen in the coops’ assets, but in its people. Thus, he encouraged coop leaders to teach their members the values of cooperativism, which are honesty, hard-work, cooperation, equity, democratic control, and where people have societal concern.
“Cooperativism is in fact inherent in the culture of the Cordillerans and so it is here in Kalinga with our binnadang and fil-fillay – helping one another with their own means and receiving what is due,” Tubban stated.
The governor related that the province experienced difficulty in banking services with the lack of financial institutions in the late 1960s until cooperatives and rural banks were born later in the 1970s.
One of those that survived the test of time is the now billionaire cooperative, Tabuk Multipurpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) which will be celebrating its Golden Anniversary on October 21, 2021.
Strengthening cooperativism
Tubban made emphasis that leaders can strengthen cooperativism by becoming an example. The things done by leaders will determine the response of members and the future of their organization and if one cannot lead as a good example, “then it is better to give way than destroy the organization.”
He added that there is a need for the leaders to ensure that all members of the organization are capable and are contributing to its sustainability “so that in the event that we leave this world, there are successors which will continue our legacy. It is the continuity of our cooperatives that will show what kind of cooperativism is at work.”
“As they say, the good future will come when the right people gather together to create it. I salute your work and your resilience despite the pandemic. I commend your unfailing love to the cooperative and your members. God bless us and may he lead us to greener pastures for a brighter and better tomorrow,” the governor concluded.
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