Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has rallied for a stronger role of cooperatives in the country, as he scored the seeming lack of support for cooperatives from the administration.
Speaking during the 36th anniversary celebration of the Negros Oriental Union of Cooperatives in Dumaguete City last Sunday, Marcos said cooperatives are being given a hard time in getting their certificates of tax exemptions.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue, he said, is aware that cooperatives are tax exempt under Republic Act 9520, or the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.
Marcos said both the government and the cooperatives stand to gain from a strong partnership, as he pushed for the creation of an institute in the Cooperative Development Authority where CDA personnel and start-up cooperatives can be trained.
Marcos, however, said this idea was outrightly rejected by the administration, citing lack of funds.
The Senator, who is vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Cooperatives, also praised the NEORUNCO, led by Dr. Profetiza Lim, for their strong partnership with local government units, private businesses, as well as in strengthening their organization.
An interesting sidelight of the visit of Senator Marcos was a meeting with a long-time Dumaguete resident, Ranulfo Limpiado, whose family in Leyte provided a hiding place for the Senator’s father, a guerilla leader who later became President of the Philippines, in November 1943, during the Second World War.
Limpiado, who is in his late 80s, quoted then First Lady Imelda Marcos who said, “If not for the Limpiado family in Higatangan Island, Naval, Leyte, there would be no Senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. today”.
Limpiado said they were so happy to realize after 22 years that the man who took refuge in their home became president of the Philippines. (SGR)
