Message by Dir. Josefina B. Bitonio CDA RO1 July 25, 2020

1. Greetings of Peace and Solidarity
Warmest congratulations to the officers,
members and staff on the occasion of your
28th
AGA with the theme “Cooperatives
Building Resilience in Communities Amidst
Covid19 Pandemic”.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to be part of your assembly and
also share our report on the participation of cooperatives nationwide and
region wide.
The global pandemic gets our attention. We’re fine then suddenly we're hit
by this crisis then our lives are no longer normal. We are in an emergency
and it changed our focus. There was lockdown and shutting down of our
economic activities and were trying to deal with it medically and
economically. The virus is the single thing that hindered the dominance of
mankind.
As of July 15 2020, there were 4,299 cooperatives all over the country who
strategically and simultaneously responded in helping their communities
with contributions of P 2 B + in cash, in kind and voluntary works. The
cash came from their CDP, OF, ISCPR, direct expense, donations and
likewise cooperatives that were involved in volunteerism performed
patrolling community checkpoints, packing relief goods of various LGUs,
donated personal hygiene kits and masks to local hospitals. We have
cooperatives assisting frontline personnel/ clinics/ hospitals/ health facilities
during this ECQ or COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Some were involved locally in mobile markets or partnering with KADIWA.
Other cooperatives brought rice to NCR like NSCC and PASSCOOP in
Agoo, La Union. All the cooperatives who participated in coop bayanihan
will be published in Manila Bulletin this month for the SONA supplement
IN Region 1, per province there were 308 cooperatives distributed as
Pang 107 28,052,575.02
LU 69 15,524,992.01
IS 58 30,815,356.77
IN 74 35,070,160.69
308 109,463,084.49
We have felt the economic crisis that hit our country mid March till today,
CDA provided cooperative regulatory relief program for cooperatives and
members issued MC No. 2020-03 dated March 11, 2020 re: Regulatory
Relief for Cooperatives in View of Proclamation No. 922; the postponement
of GA meetings and election of officers; Memorandum Circular dated No.
2020-05 dated April 6, 2020 Re: Extension of Deadline of Submission of
Annual Tax Incentives Report (ATIR) of Cooperatives to the Authority Due
to the COVID-19 Pandemic. To June 30, 2020. “extending the deadline of
submission of the required reports to July 30, 2020.
We also conducted two e-forum on regulation and credit and financial
services, banking and insurance cluster. Lately we also participated in the
virtual meeting conducted by Con Ben Canama of NATCCO on the issues
and concerns affecting cooperatives with their transactions with BIR and
LBP. Our lives shifted and we are heavily using IT with so many webinars

3. and virtual meetings. Soon we will be also releasing our webinars on
PRS, Fundamentals of Cooperatives, Governance and Management and
Business Continuity Management Program.
The spread of the virus is rapid now in terms of crowds and travels. Stay
safe always and be mindful of your environment as there is no effective
treatment for this yet. The forecast for treatment is a year or two. Let’s stay
to comfort people and continue to advocate and practice health protocols
by the IATF.
Our heartfelt thanks for what you are doing and continue to do in building
resilience in communities amidst covid19 Pandemic.