DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Friday lauded Bohol 's cooperatives, saying these are more active than their counterparts in his home province of Tarlac. Teodoro was the keynote speaker during the “Fiesta sa Kooperatiba” at the Bohol Cultural Center in Tagbilaran City – the closing activity of the celebration in the province of October as Cooperative Month. Municipal Cooperative Development Councils (MCDCs) and key officials of cooperatives throughout the province trooped to the cultural center to listen to Teodoro who arrived that morning by helicopter from Cebu in time to guest at The Governor Reports – Gov. Erico Aumentado's weekly radio program simulcast live over two city-based stations, relayed to another station in Ubay town and delayed broadcast over still another station in Carmen town.

Aumentado and Provincial Board Member Josephine Socorro Jumamoy, chair of the Committee on Cooperatives and of the Provincial Cooperative Development Council (PCDC) invited Teodoro, the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party presidential timber, to the gathering. At the press conference and at the meeting with Bohol 's city and town mayors, vice mayors and Liga ng mga Barangay (LnB) presidents at the Governor's Mansion before proceeding to the cultural center, Teodoro parried questions on his stand on various issues including what he would do if he wins the presidency. That he will continue the Panglao Bohol International Airport project got nods from Aumentado, Jumamoy, Vice Gov. Julius Caesar Herrera, Reps. Edgar Chatto of the 1st District, Roberto Cajes of the 2nd District and Eladio Jala who represented his son, incumbent Rep. Adam Relson Jala of the 3rd District and the mayors, especially Benedicto Alcala of Panglao who had asked the question.

He said a province can never have enough airports. The secretary, also a commercial pilot and a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, has led relief operations where he approved the landing of a C-130 plane in an old and unused airport in Eastern Samar to bring relief goods because two severed bridges had cut land transportation while boats were out of the question due to huge waves from the Pacific Ocean spawned by inclement weather.

“That airport [Panglao] must be continued,” he emphasized.

Besides, he said, the Tagbilaran airport is already too small for current traffic and cannot accommodate bigger planes. To note, airlines now prefer the bigger planes that can haul more passengers and cargoes in one flight in order to cut on fuel cost. The secretary also lauded the Boholanos for celebrating cooperativism by way of the fiesta – an indication that it is alive and well here – unlike in Tarlac that has only 37 active cooperatives out of over 500. He said the cooperatives are the true engines of private sector growth – apparently strong in Bohol because of the strong leadership and good governance of the local officials. “I praise you for achieving this level of success, and I praise your local officials for allowing this success because of their strong support,” said Teodoro who had to cut short his visit in order to return to Manila to “man the fort” as Typhoon Santi was about to unleash its fury with Luzon in its path.

Jumamoy had introduced Teodoro.

Meanwhile, in his solidarity message, Aumentado thanked the cooperatives for their great contribution in plucking Bohol out of Club 20 – the country's 20 poorest provinces as listed before his watch. The latest listing of the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has put Bohol in No. 55 out of 80 provinces. It was 41st in 2005 and 52nd a year later. To further develop the cooperatives' strength, the governor said the provincial government provided P5 million as counterpart to the P5 million raised by the cooperatives, P5 million from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and another P5 million from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund (IGLF) to make P20 million as Coopreneurs Surety Fund (CSF) in Bohol to finance projects of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that are “not yet bankable”.

Coop fiesta

On top of door prizes, up for grabs during the coop fiesta were prizes for the interpretative cooperative dance participated in by 10 dancers who must be members of a registered coop; most promising coop product and processed product that must be a modification of an already existing product or processed product but cannot yet be found in the market on a commercial scale and the most colorful LGU on parade. The most promising coop processed product was judged according to palatability, innovativeness and originality, market potential, packaging and product presentation as well as shelf life. On the other hand, criteria for the most promising coop product included design, innovativeness, originality, use of local materials, market potential and product presentation. For a dance group to win, the members must have excelled in mastery and delivery, costume and appearance, originality of their piece and its relevance to the theme. Jumamoy said the gathering projected an atmosphere of unity, camaraderie and the true spirit of cooperative festivity towards a new single vision – a united cooperative movement in Bohol. While Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri who chairs the Senate Committee on Cooperatives could not come, Jumamoy thanked him also for allocating P1 million for the strengthening of the cooperatives here. The special allotment release order (SARO) covering the amount is already in hand, she said.