QUEZON CITY – COOP-NATCCO Representative Felimon Espares has filed House Bills 2412 and 2417 in Congress. If and when the Bills become laws, the results are seen to bring cooperatives to a higher level.
Congressman Espares chaired a consultation meeting held at the House of Representatives on March 18 attended by members of the House Committee on Cooperative Development, various Government agencies, co-op federations, and unions.
A total of four bills were in the agenda.
House Bill 2412 is “An Act Establishing Local Cooperatives Development Fund for each LGU and appropriating Funds therefor, and for other purposes. Its key features are consolidation of agri co-ops, preference for agri co-ops in procurement, creation of a national federation of agri co-ops, creation of Agricultural Cooperatives Council, agri co-ops registered as multi-purpose cooperatives, categorization of pre-cooperative agri organizations, establishment of chain supply mechanisms, establishment of a Bureau of Agricultural Cooperatives, clustering and consolidation of produce, and more.
House Bill 2417 is “An Act ensuring the Development, Promotion and Protection of Agricultural Cooperatives”
Invited to the meeting were representatives of Government agencies, cooperative federations, and cooperative unions.
Also attending the consultation were members of the House Committee on Cooperative Development.
All cooperative leaders are invited to submit their inputs to the Bills, the texts of which can be accessed in the website www.congress.gov.ph.
Other bills included in the agenda were House Bill 1023 by Rep. Robert Nazal and House Bill 1901 by Rep. Lordan Suan.
House Bill 1023 is An Act to Promote the Development of Agriculture Cooperatives . . . providing support to farmers and their associations and for other purposes. Key features are: 1) encouraging barangay-level associations to register as agri co-ops in every municipality, mandatory hiring of a certified professional manager and staff, preference for agri co-ops in procurement, and more.
It was proposed that House Bills 1023 and 2417 be merged, since they both concern agricultural cooperatives.
House Bill 1901 is “An Act Strengthening the Water Service Cooperatives, Establishing the Local Water Service Cooperatives Development Fund and providing Support Programs for its Growth and Development.”
Suan’s Bill proposes for LGUs to appropriate in their annual budget at least 2% of the National Tax Allotment (NTA) for local water service cooperatives development, states the uses of the funds (primarily capacity-building or organization of water service cooperatives, and names the implementing agencies the CDA, National Water Resource Board, and Local Government Units (LGUs).
Agencies at the consultation were representatives of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Dept. of Agriculture, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Dept. of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Dept. Budget and Management (DBM).
Federations represented were AgriCooPH, Tagalog Cooperative Development Center (TAGCODEC), and the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO).
Other co-op entities were the National Union of Cooperatives (NUC), Philippine Cooperative Center (PCC), and the Philippine Chamber of Cooperatives (PCC).
All the Government agencies expressed support for the cooperatives in general, and pledged to submit position papers on the Bills.
The Department of Budget & Management said “earmarking an Agricultural Cooperative Development Fund of Php 5 Billion should pass through further legislative process. The DBM added that it might be faster if it is incorporated in the budget of a Government agency like the Dept. of Agriculture, DTI, CDA, or DAR instead of being a stand-alone fund.
The LBP mentioned the ASCEND Program launched in 2025, that enables agricultural cooperatives to grow through targeted financing combined with training of the co-op staff.
The DBP recommended a consolidated Bill for HBs 1023 and 2417, and “has already earmarked funds for 3,000 registered agri co-ops and 8,000 MPCs.”
On Section 8 of HB 1023, stipulating that “Agricultural Credit Policy Council shall earmark at least 10% of their annual agriculture-related portfolio” of DBP and LBP — this is already being done.
The DBP representative also mentioned Republic Act 11901 or the “Act Strengthening the Financial System, Including Capacity-Building and Organization, for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development, Repealing RA 10000 or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009” already requires 25% of the DBP and LBP Loanable funds to agriculture.
The DBP clarified whether the 10 percent is additional to the current funds appropriated for loans to agriculture.
Espares, however, emphasized that the DBP and LBP have a mandate to help finance food production.
The LBP representative said the government bank is already providing 61% or Php 877 B dedicated to agriculture: “We are already complying. We have also provided 73.96 Billion in loans to 1,026 cooperatives.”
The Dept. of Agriculture (DA) revealed that “there are 3,000-plus agricultural cooperatives, and 1,710 of these are micro. Many of them have been in existence for five years, but still not engaging in business and have bank deposits amounting to less than Php 20,000!”
Espares replied that micro agri co-ops can be treated as “pre-cooperatives” under the upcoming amended Cooperative Code. They will receive a different kind of treatment.
The CDA said “pre-cooperatives should be limited only to certain jurisdictions but will be given assistance.”
AgriCooPH, a nationwide federation of agriculture cooperatives, had given inputs to HB 2417 and advocates the creation of a “Bureau of Cooperative Development (BACoD)” under the DA, proposed that the CDA should “focus on regulation while the BACoD focuses on development, and that Government agencies should give priority to agricultural cooperatives when procuring their food requirements for social projects, distribution to employees, etc
AgriCooPH also decried that PHILMECH-supplied farm equipment are “poor quality”. They added that RA 9184 (The Government Procurement Reform Act) is insufficient and has no teeth. Based on RA 11321 (Act Instituting the Farmers and Fisherfolk Enterprise Development Program of the DA) or the Sagip Saka Act lacks teeth as well. A merged Bill on agricultural cooperative development should harmonize these two laws to ensure that Government agencies will FIRST consider agri co-ops as their supplier and at the same time DA should develop the businesses of farmers.”