Tolentino lauds coops for empowering communities, supporting nat’l dev’t
SENATE Majority Leader Francis ‘Tol’ Tolentino lauded the country’s cooperatives by citing their distinct role in empowering communities and supporting national development.
Tolentino was the guest speaker at the celebration of National Cooperatives Month held in Bacoor City, Cavite, where cooperatives from different localities across the province converged to kick off the month-long festivities.
Bacoor officials led by Mayor Strike Revilla and Vice Mayor Rowena Bautista Mendiola, along with cooperative development officials of the province welcomed the senator, who was accompanied by his son, Jeb Isaac Tolentino.
The senator also toured the booths showcasing top products of Cavite cooperatives, ranging from coffee to fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
In his speech, the senator shared the progress of the Senate bill seeking to establish the Cooperative Development Bank of the Philippines.
Tolentino was one of the senators who strongly supported the passage of the measure when the latter was taken up at a committee hearing in the Upper Chamber last week.
The senator likewise shared his plan to file a bill that would lay down the framework for the setting up of Internet Service Cooperatives.
“If there are cooperatives that provide electricity and water, then the same framework can be used to deliver another important utility, internet services, which has become a basic need of our people,” he noted.
He added that the creation of internet service cooperatives can particularly serve small, far-flung, and isolated communities that are not being serviced by big internet service providers.
Finally, the senator affirmed his support for cooperatives engaged in fishing and farming, two of the most important sectors in rural development.
The senator is also the principal author of Senate Bill 1589, An Act Instituting Agricultural Cooperativism in the Philippines, which seeks to accelerate the creation of cooperatives in the farming sector.