The Palawan Cooperative Development Office (PCDO) has been hailed as the Most Outstanding Provincial Cooperative Office in the entire Mimaropa region for the year 2023.
The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) bestowed this honor during the annual Gawad Parangal Awards, where the Palawan provincial government was also recognized as the 2023 Regional Winner for Outstanding Local Government Unit (LGU).
“The accomplishments that we had would not have been possible without the executive and legislative support that was afforded to us in the Provincial Government,” PCDO Officer Gina Socrates said.
Among the highlights of PCDO’s achievements in 2023 is the launch of the first-ever Laboratory Cooperative in Palawan, known as KOOP BATA.
The provincial government said this initiative aims to educate young Palaweños about savings, financial management, and participation in a regular cooperative.
KOOP BATA has successfully been established in the towns of San Vicente and Bataraza.
Palawan also played host to the 11th National Tripartite Conference for Cooperative Development, attracting over a thousand delegates from various parts of the Philippines.
The event included a Coop Trade Fair, generating a total revenue of ₱1.7 million for participating cooperatives and single proprietorship exhibitors in just two days.
PCDO allocated ₱4.6 million in financial assistance to different cooperatives in the province through the Credit Assistance Program. Additionally, a significant partnership was solidified with Palawan State University – College of Business and Accountancy through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2023.
“It was a year of forging partnerships with other agencies & institutions, launching a new program dubbed as ‘Koop-Bata’ in Palawan, hosting big coop events, and last but not least, the blessings to have been able to serve our cooperatives in the province,” Socrates remarked.
Amid the recognition, PCDO vowed its commitment to education by conducting various training programs, focusing particularly on youth through Youth Camps, Youth Savers Forums, and Financial Literacy Training.
“We look forward to a better year ahead of us. We will strive to improve and find ways to be innovative in our ways of serving the people, particularly the cooperatives in Palawan. We will continue to have a positive outlook that together we can do great, looking forward to a year of more partnerships and hard work,” Socrates said.
