Ms. Amelita B. Damian, Bank Officer V of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Mr. Miguel P. Luma-ang, Chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Benguet, and Rev. Fr. Charleston L. Buking, Chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Mountain Province served as resource persons.
Ms. Damian presented the current performance of cooperative banks in the country, the relevance and definition of a cooperative bank, its difference from rural banks, requirements on its establishment, relevant regulations, and issues and challenges faced by cooperative banks.
Accordingly, there are a total of twenty-five (25) Cooperative Bank Head Offices in the country of which fifteen (15) are in Luzon and five (5) each in Visayas and Mindanao. There are one hundred thirty-one (131) cooperative bank branches for a total of one hundred fifty-six (156) cooperative banks nation wide owning 0.1% assets of the Total Assets registered in the Philippine Banking System as of June 30, 2018.
A Cooperative Bank is defined as one organized for the purpose of providing a wide range of financial services to cooperatives and their members. Article 100 of the Republic Act No. 9520 on the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008 provides that "A cooperative bank shall primarily provide financial, banking, and credit services to cooperative organizations and their members".
The said act further states that a cooperative bank shall be organized only by cooperative organizations that are duly established and registered under the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008. A Cooperative Bank shall be considered as a cooperative that should be registered with the CDA, subject to authorization and supervision of the BSP.
To create the proposed Cooperative Bank of Baguio, at least five (5) primary cooperatives located in the same location of the proposed head office are needed with at least twenty million (20 M) initial capitalization. BSP allows only one (1) coop bank per province.
On the other hand, Mr. Luma-ang Rev. Fr. Buking shared their experiences as chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Benguet and Cooperative Bank of Mountain Province respectively in terms of Organization, Capitalization, Operation, and Management.
In closing, a survey/ questionnaire on the possible establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Baguio was distributed for each participating cooperative to fill-out which should be submitted to the CDA on or before the mid of January 2019.
