BY FELIPE CELINO
ROXAS City — The provincial government of Capiz will host this year’s Cooperative Month celebration on Friday, following this city’s successful hosting of the event last year.
Themed “Cooperative Enterprise: Build a Better Capiz,” the celebration will be held at the Capiz gym here.
It will kick off with a parade of different cooperatives in the province from the city public plaza to the Villareal Stadium.
There are 99 active cooperatives in Capiz, 10 of them belong to the Top 100 active cooperatives in Western Visayas.
The parade will be followed by the cutting of ribbon at the Trade Fair, to be done by former Akbayan party-list representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, said Provincial Board member Jonathan “Sonny” Besa.
Baraquel will also be the event’s guest of honor and speaker, he added.
Officials of the Capiz Credit Surety Fund (CCSF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will hold lectures on Friday afternoon.
CCSF officials will discuss the Credit Surety Fund — it’s existence, and how to avail of loans and how to grow them.
As for the BIR, it will tackle updates in the agency, its relationship with cooperatives, and the cooperatives and the law.
During his more than two years as Board member, Besa has established the CCSF as one of his “best legacy projects.”
Several local government units and financial institutions have poured in some P25 million for the seed capital of CCSF, he said.
Now, members of cooperatives in Capiz can avail themselves of loan from the fund, said Besa, chairman of Cooperatives and Tourism committees.
Capiz has been celebrating the Cooperative Month for 20 years already.
