Kim’s Dream Orlan Ravanera
A Leader Without Advocacy, Like A Night Without Stars
It has been said that a leader without advocacy is like a night without stars. So as one who leads, be a barangay captain, a mayor or a governor or simply, an environmentalist or cooperative leader, you must fight for what is right, what is true and what is just. With that strong advocacy despite all the odds, no problem, as long as the people are always with you as you are fighting for them, as Vox Populi, Vox Dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God). Such truism was strongly announced during an International Conference of Non-Government Organizations, Environmentalists and Cooperatives, attended by the vast multitude world-wide in Paris, France, three decades ago. After the conference, some 5,000 participants marched in the streets and were shouting, “El Pueblo Unido, No Mas Sera Vincido,” and those from English -speaking countries responded, “The people united, can never be defeated.” Then, a military helicopter roared above us, perhaps fearing that we are staging a peaceful revolution.
I can liken the amazing coming together of vast multitude of Filipinos from all walks of life – farmers, fisherfolk, the Indigenous Peoples, the labor force, OFWs, government employees, the youth, senior citizens, police, military, former NPA combatants, MILF, MNLF and even the handicapped. They have one thing in common. They are coming together to collectively harness their collective potentials by adhering to the tenets of cooperativism to combat the number one enemy of the people which is, dehumanizing poverty. They can be well described as the new breed of FREEDOM FIGHTERS not anymore against colonial rule but against poverty, gross inequity and social injustice.
With a critical mass of over 20 million nation-wide, the cooperatives have become a micro-economy which is MEMBERS-OWNED (no one shall be left behind), VALUE-BASED & PHILOSOPHY DRIVEN (love & service, devoid of the whims & capriciousness of the mundane); SUSTAINABILITY (socially-inclusive & ecologically sustainable). What makes the cooperatives distinct is that they pursue their respective businesses not for profit but for service. No less than the State has recognized the cooperatives’ vital role that it relaxes one of its fundamental powers on them which is the power of taxation, cooperatives being generally free from paying taxes. This is so because every cooperative’s reason for being is to advance the well-being of every member, to be unfettered from the vicious cycle of poverty. Cooperativism is a social justice measure to equalize opportunities and give every Filipino a fighting chance to seek his/her destiny. It is one to empower, to liberate, to cut that bondage perpetuated by a colonial culture that devastated people’s identity and values.
How wonderful it is to see the poor farmers binding themselves, pooling their resources together, harnessing their collective potentials and experiences to free themselves from the clutches of the usurers, the compradors and the modern day encomienderos – the landlords. Through their cooperatives, they have empowered themselves to reclaim back the dignity of farming stolen from them by those who have profited from their own labor. In this country, everyone has benefitted from farming except those who are doing the back-breaking job of farming, exposed to the excruciating heat of the sun and the harshness of the weather – the poor farmers.
How great it is to see the marginalized sectors drawing themselves into the mainstream of development processes to craft their own destiny through their respective cooperatives. This truism is showcased by our Indigenous Peoples who have been displaced by the powerful loggers that have wantonly exploited the forest resources with utter disregard for nature and the future of the coming generations. Through cooperativism, the Indigenous Peoples who are now living in extreme poverty are undergoing the process of empowerment to fight for their rights against those who are grabbing their ancestral domains. Is the enrichment of the few elites means the dispossession of the poor? It should not be and the only countervailing peaceful means is through cooperativism.
I remember sometime in 2019 when I was USEC/Chairman of the Cooperative Development Authority, no less than Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in a meetng in Malacanang, ordered me to organize the 17 million Indigenous Peoples in all of their ancestral domains nation-wide into cooperatives. With that firm belief that the only liberating force is through cooperativism, I issued a memorandum to CDA staff nation-wide to implement the Presidential Order. Then, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between CDA & NCIP to coordinate in cooperativising the Indigenous Peoples. While this may be so, we are aware of the continuing struggle of our Indigenous Peoples to fight for their land and resources which are fast slipping through their fingers. We are one with them in their advocacy to immediately stop their further displacement. Development aggressions and unjust intrusions in their ancestral domains which they have sustainably managed for thousands of years must be ceased through cooperativism. When the 17 million Indigenous Peoples will come together to stand for their right, indeed, they can aptly say, the people united, can never be defeated.
Cooperativism has indeed come of age in a land where the culture of corruption, the culture of poverty and the culture of the lethal combination of powerlessness, apathy and greed are prevalent. The cooperatives in their own right are now trail-blazing collectivist counter culture of participation, democratic control and social justice so that power should be returned to where it is rightfully belongs – to the people. This is so because THE PEOPLE UNITED CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED! MABUHAY ANG KOOPERTIBA!
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