City officials urged the Cooperative Development Authority-Cordillera and the Baguio City Cooperative Development Council (BCCDC) to help them in their request for concerned agencies to consider speeding up the processes for the grant of exemptions and other incentives due the cooperatives.
In Resolution 594, s. 2020, signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, the city council said the CDA and the BCCDC should help address the predicaments of local cooperatives, by maiing representation on their behalf with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Department of Labor and Employment among other line agencies.
The CDA is the regulatory agency that governs the registration, operation and monitoring of various types of cooperatives while the BIR and DOLE are in charge of granting tax exemptions and other benefits to cooperatives subject to their compliance to laws and rules and regulations of the agencies.
The council noted that tax exemption is one of the incentives or benefits accorded for by Republic Act 9520 or the Cooperative Code, but the processing and granting of the same has been taking too much time and is claimed to have deprived cooperatives of the benefit, especially at this time when micro and small cooperatives need funds to beef up their capital.
City officials added micro and small cooperatives need the guidance and assistance of the CDA and the BCCDC in consonance with the agency’s mandate to promote viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments of equity, social justice, and economic development pursuant to Section 15, Article 12 of the Constitution.
The city is extending technical assistance to individuals interested in organizing cooperatives to help strengthen the sector and contribute in spurring the local economy. – PIO release
