October is Cooperative Month

"Come gather 'round people wherever you roam and admit that the waters around you have grown. And admit that soon you'll be drenched to the hone, if your time for you is worth savin'. Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changin'

This opening salvo of tile song, "The times they are a-changing" popularized by Bob Dylan in the '60s, speaks, well of the socio-economic realities besetting Philippine society today, spawned by a highly skewed structural set-up with all the social flaws that go with it. Glaring is dehumanizing poverty which is the logical consequence of a people that is devoid of power to have access and control over their resources. We have to reckon with a development paradigm that is only successful in consigning so many to live in the slum areas and that is assaulting the environment that sustains life.

The lyrics of the song literally warns us of rising waters that have already devastated limbs, lives and properties in a country that has become vulnerable to massive floods.

For a determined and united people working together to effect social change and to nurture God's vanishing creation, a glimmer of hope rises in the horizon. Poverty, hunger and ecological disasters have no match against an empowered people who have come together through their cooperatives to launch
a collectivist counter culture.

Carrying the theme, "Transformative Cooperatives: Advancing People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace" with the sub theme: Kalinga Ng Kooperatiba sa Kalikasan” the 20,178 cooperatives in the country with 7 million members are joining hands, serving notice to one and all that they have awakened, and through their collective efforts, they will win back the future for their children!

October is their month and will therefore carry-out activities to put cooperativism in the public imagination and consciousness, anchored on the truism that cooperativism is the only democratic process now that can liberate the people from the pangs of hunger and poverty.

October is the month of the poor and the hungry as it reels-off punctuated with important celebrations that put to the fore issues of poverty and hunger and what are being done to resolve these pressing issues by mobilizing their collective potentials, energies and experiences.

October 16 is World Food Day by virtue of a United Nation's Resolution while October 17 is the Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty. October is also the month of the Indigenous People.

By virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 493. October has been declared as Cooperative Month. 

It is a wonderful coincidence that all of the above mentioned celebrations fall together ir the same month as these events are inextricably linked and the issues they carry are very much inter-related.

This month is the apt time for all of us to pause and reflect on issues of poverty and hunger not only nationally but also globally. As embodied in the Millennium Development Goals, all the nations in the world have targeted the eradication of poverty as their number one priority.

This is so because out of the 4.4 billion people in the developing countries, 1.3 billion live on less than $l/day; 2.8 billion on less than $2/day. Close to 790 million people struggle to meet their basic food need requirements on daily basis. Each year, 15 million people die of poverty related causes, most are children.

In the Philippines, the Social Weather Station survey conducted last year, disclosed that 17 million Filipinos are subsisting on $1/day while 43 million on $2/day. It also disclosed that 15% of household heads reported that their families had experienced hunger, without having anything to eat, at least once in the last 3 months.

As stated by development experts, "despite years, efforts and funds to fight it, abject poverty continues to afflict our country such that it has become second skin to more than a third of our people. We have made no significant headways in improving our quality of life. Poverty is one of the main culprits behind ithe sad tale that is told too much too often - the thief to many a child's dreams."

We have to reverse the poverty trend which is worse in Mindanao that is suffering high poverty gap ratios than the rest of the country. In fact, 14 of the poorest provinces in the country are found in Mindanao. This is a great paradox in an island that has been described as "food basket," and where 2/3 of total exports are coming from.

Time is of the essence. By 2015, "there will be an unprecedented demand for food, water, shelter and jobs for 96.3 million Filipinos," as indicated in the Human Development Indicators. The celebration has reeled-off with parades in the provinces and major cities, opening-up the floodgate of month-long activities that had as its first salvo the massive tree planting nationwide.   The thrust is to plant one million seedlings in a month's time.

The lined-up activities include, among others, a series of symposium called "Planet Forum" which will be conducted in Metro Manila with topics to be discussed in relation to the nurture and protection of our environment and are as follows: 1) Investors Forum on Community Based Forest Management; 2) Environment Protection, Waste Management, and Climate Change; 3) Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture; and 4) Power Forum; Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture and Ecology; Regional Conference on Agrarian Reform Cooperatives; Launching and Opening of the Cooperative Market (CM); Road show on Micro-finance and Livelihood Programs for Cooperatives; Educational Contests, Recojmition of Outstanding Cooperatives; Environmental Awareness Activities including rehabilitation of mangroves, reforestation of denuded areas, and upland tree growing; and a grand Culmination with the awarding of the "Gawad Parangal".

The spirit of cooperativism shines through amidst the darkness of poverty and social inequities. Where people are poor because they are powerless to craft their destiny, where hunger looms because of social injustice as the mode of production and basic utilities are controlled by a few, where people are in dire economic difficulties because of lack of opportunities, skills and capabilities, it is during this time when cooperatives thrive best.

"Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the halt For he that gets hurt will be stalled There is a battle outside and it is raging.. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls... the (flawed societal) order is rapidly fading. For the times they are a-changing" so goes the song. Yes, it is a war against dehumanizing poverty; it is the struggle for food security and ecological integrity; and it is one that is transformational, effecting social change not through the firepower of guns but by the strength of the human spirit through cooperativism.  Join us! (ORR)

M E M O R A N D U M

To : ALL REGIONAL DIRECTOR
From : ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Subject : CELEBRATION OF THE 2011 COOPERATIVE MONTH
Date : September 2, 2011

October is the month of the poor and the hungry as it reels-off punctuated with important celebrations that put to the fore issues of poverty and hunger and what are being done to resolve these pressing issues by mobilizing their collective potentials, energies and experiences.

October 16 is World Food Day by virtue of a United Nation's Resolution while October 17 is the Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty.  October is also the month of the Indigenous People.

By virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 493, October has beendeclared as Cooperative Month.

Carrying the theme "Transformative Cooperatives : Advancing People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace" with a sub-theme "Kooperatiba : Sama-sama sa Pagkandili ng Kalikasan", the more than 20,000 cooperatives in the country with some 7 million members are joining hands, serving notice to one and all that they have awakened, and through their collective efforts, they will win back the future for their children!

October is their month and we will therefore carry-out activitiesto put cooperativism in the public imagination and consciousness, anchored on the truism that cooperativism is the only democratic process now that can liberate the people from the pangs of hunger and poverty.

In line with the celebration, the following activities shall be observed:

A. POSTING OF STREAMERS/BANNERS

All are directed to hang streamers/banners bearing the theme and sub-theme of the Cooperative Month for the month-long celebration. Likewise,encourage cooperatives to post/hang streamers in their respective offices andparticipate/get involved in the activities related to the celebration.

B. TREE PLANTING - October 1, 2011

The opening activity of the celebration will stress on the importance of the theme.  Everyone is to conduct a Tree Planting Activity on October 1, 2011, where a total of 50, 000 seedlings will be planted.  This will be done simultaneously in all of the 15 regions and therefore, each region should be planting an average of 3,333 seedlings.  This is in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and further developments will be transmitted to your end.

All Extension Offices are directed to mobilize primary cooperatives, federations and unions to be part of this synchronized tree planting activity.

C. SYMPOSIUM - October 13-14, 2011

A series of symposium called "Planet Forum" will be conducted in Metro Manila.  The topics to be discussed are in relation to the nurture and protection of our environment and are as follows:

- Investors Forum on Community Based Forest Management
- Environment Protection, Waste Management and Climate Change
- Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture
- Power Forum

You are also encouraged to conduct similar activities that are related to environmental concerns.

Please be guided by the said theme in conducting and celebrating activities and affairs during the Cooperative Month and disseminate this to cooperatives in your respective areas of jurisdiction.

May we request you to submit to us thru CRITD, your calendar of activities for the celebration of the Cooperative Month.

For your information and appropriate action.

SGD. ORLANDO R. RAVANERA
Acting Executive Director
Date Published: September 3, 2011

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