WHEN A LEADER LISTENS

Cooperative Development Authority Chairman Joseph Encabo has his ear to the ground

-  CECILE J. BALTASAR

Taking care of the country's over 20,000 cooperatives is not a one-agency job. It requires a whole-of-government approach. Under the direction of Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Joseph Encabo, there is a continuous, collective effort from CDA, national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), and the private sector to make sure the rights of the country's cooperatives, especially the small and micro ones, are upheld.

In this National Cooperative Month, cooperatives continue to enjoy this support. First, however, they needed to get digitalized.

Connected cooperatives

CDA is taking to heart President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.'s sweeping orders of digitalizing government processes.

"Our primary focus when it comes to digitalization is to give our cooperatives access [to digital tools to ease] delivery of their reportorial requirements to CDA," said Encabo in an interview with The Philippine STAR.

Under the agency's Wifi Connectivity Program, CDA identified a number of cooperatives in remote areas that have no internet access. By connecting them to the internet, CDA not only gave these cooperatives the ability to input, submit, and present their annual reports online; the agency also empowered them to optimize their internet connection.