Authorship Speech on the Proposed 2022 NCCDC Ordinance

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

              In our agenda for first reading this morning is a proposed ordinance, by this representation, further updating the guidelines on the structure, organization and operation of the Naga City Cooperatives Development Council (NCCDC).

              The Naga City Cooperatives Development Council, first created through City Ordinance 1995-049, had already undergone several amendments to conform to issuances by the Cooperatives Development Authority, the last of which being City Ordinance 2015-002 based on CDA MC 2013-01.

              Last February 2, 2022, the CDA issued MC 2022-03 to provide updated guidelines on the structure, organization, and operation of Cooperative Development Councils. The said MC repealed the 2013 issuance from which City Ordinance 2015-002 is based; therefore necessitating legislative action that would conform the operation of the Naga City Cooperatives Development Council to the CDA’s latest issuance.

              The salient points of the updated guidelines where this proposed ordinance is patterned provide that:

1. The Chairperson of the City Development Council, our City Mayor, shall now automatically act as Honorary Chairperson of the Naga City Cooperative Development Council but with an actual Chairperson serving upon election by majority vote of all the members constituting the council;
2. The CDA representative shall be a member but cannot be elected as an officer of the Council;
3. The terms of office of the elected officers of the council shall be for two years and they cannot be elected for more than two consecutive terms;
4. The Members of the NCCDC shall no longer be required to submit to accreditation by the Sangguniang Panlungsod as a prerequisite for membership in the Cooperatives Development Council; and
5. The inclusion of prohibited acts and activities upon the NCCDC such as: undertaking of any fundraising and/or income generating activity, registering with any government agency for the purpose of acquiring juridical personality, and engaging in activities other than those allowed under R.A. 11364, its IRR, and CDA MC 2022-03.

              As chairman of the Committee on Cooperatives, I expect these updates to further clarify and strengthen the role of the Naga City Cooperative Development Council as a multi-sectoral body created to provide a system with regard to policy consultation and coordination of programs and projects for cooperatives development in the City of Naga and reinforcing the City Government’s commitment of promoting the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments of equity, social justice, and economic development.