Mindanaotoday.com | Newly approved co-ops in LDS positive for more great opportunities
By: Johaira N Didato
MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur – Members of five organizations from the municipality of Ditsaan-Ramain were elated as they are now registered cooperatives recognized by the Provincial Government of Lanao del Sur, seeing this as an opening of more opportunities for their groups.
The newly-approved cooperatives are from the 60 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) organized through the “Sustaining Transformative and Resilient Initiatives in Vulnerable Communities (STRIVEc) in Ranao Philippines” project of Islamic Relief Philippines.
“I believe na mag-oopen ito ng mas maraming opportunities para sa amin. Itong nakabuo na kami ng cooperative mas magiging madali na sa amin if ever man na may kailangan kami or magpatulong [sa iba’t-ibang ahensiya] dahil may cooperative kami. Kaya ito na rin ang pag-a-appeal namin na ngayon na may cooperative kami ay kailangan talaga na masustain ito para mas lumaki pa ito,” said Omaima Omama of Almabrook Service Cooperative.
(I believe it will open up more opportunities for us. Now that we have formed a cooperative, it will be easier for us if we ever need something or ask for help [from different agencies] because we have a cooperative. This is also our appeal: now that we have a cooperative, it is really necessary to sustain it so that it can grow even more)
Acmad Mamosaca, chairperson of the Magayon Vulcanizing and Motor Shop Service Cooperative, expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Relief Philippines, as this wouldn’t be possible without their help. He is grateful that, among all the municipalities in Lanao del Sur, the international organization chose their municipality for the implementation of their STRIVEc project.
He is most thankful that Islamic Relief helped them register their cooperative with the Provincial Government.
“Nagpapasalamat kami sa Islamic Relief dahil almost wala kaming tinrabaho dito sila mismo ang nag-process sa lahat ng kailangang e-process ukol dito sa pag register namin sa cooperative namin,” he said.
(We are grateful to Islamic Relief because they did mostly all the work, they processed everything that needed to be processed regarding the registration of our cooperative)
He also shared that not only his cooperative will benefit from this but also the residents of their municipality since they don’t need to go far to get their vehicles fixed as they now have a vulcanizing and motor shop service in their area.
Meanwhile, the remaining SHGs are still in the process of registering their cooperatives with the Provincial Cooperative Office. (JND/PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)
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