Principles of Cooperatives and Social Development
PROF. DIANA LEE TRACY K. CHAN OVERVIEW OF COOPERATIVE
--Cooperatives are utilized by the government as an effective tools for economic development;
--The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), the government agency in charge of development and monitoring cooperatives in the country;
-- Traced back multi- purpose cooperatives to the subsistence farming traditions of Japan. Rural communities lived together by mutually assisting each other through need based production of primary commodities and exchange of surplus with others;
--The basic principle behind this concept is the urge to fulfill local needs though local effort and establish a mutuality of interests within the community.
-- The implementation of R.A. 6938 or the Cooperative Code of the Philippines, almost all cooperatives are now registered as multi- purpose cooperatives in order to simultaneously undertake four functions i.e., credit, marketing, purchasing and joint utilization of resources.
DEFINITION OF COOPERATIVE --it is a VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE who have agreed to pool their resources together in order to undertake an economic enterprise for the purpose of meeting their common needs, and which they themselves democratically manage and control, and share the economic benefits on the basis of participation and patronage.
-- they are also business enterprises which the members themselves own, manage and control in accordance with accepted democratic principles;
-- they are not organized primarily for profit nor to serve other people but to serve the needs of their own members;
-- Memberships in cooperatives is voluntary and open to all those who need their services. Finally, the economic benefits from cooperatives are shared by the members in proportion to the individual member's patronage of the business or enterprise.