“123 Financial services cooperatives. Financial services co-operatives may organize as financial services co-operatives, organize themselves into financial services co-operative associations, and register their association with the authority. Such financial services cooperatives may be represented by the Authority as supervisory authority for its members and shall have the following functions: (a) the functions of credit unions and other cooperatives, including multi-purpose cooperatives, which provide savings and loans to their members, and (b) other financial services subject to GNP regulation”. ART.61 Tax and other exemptions. Co-operatives that do business with members and non-members are not subject to tax on their transactions with members. In this context, members` transactions with the Co-operative are not subject to taxes and fees, including, but not limited to, final taxes on members` filings and taxes on documents. Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, such cooperatives dealing with non-members shall enjoy the following tax exemptions: “20 Division of Cooperatives. Any registered cooperative may decide to split into two (2) or more cooperatives by a resolution passed by three-quarters (3/4) of the votes of all members present and with a voting quorum. The procedure for such a division shall be laid down in the rules of the Authority: provided that all the conditions laid down in this Code have been fulfilled by the new cooperatives: Provided, moreover, that no division of a cooperative is valid for fraud with creditors.
“ARTICLE 117 [] Organisational link. Credit unions may organize chapters or subsidiaries or join leagues and associations to provide common essential services, including, but not limited to, the following: “(2) Democratic control of members – Co-operatives are democratic member-controlled organizations that actively participate in policy development and decision-making. Men and women who act as elected representatives, directors or public servants are accountable to members. In primary co-operatives, members have the same voting rights as one member, one vote. Cooperatives at other levels are organized in the same democratic way. “(a) one-half of the amounts transferred annually to the Education and Training Fund under this subsection shall be spent by the cooperative for education and training purposes; while the other half may be transferred to a union or federation chosen by or to which it belongs. The said union or federation shall submit to the Authority and to the contributing cooperatives the following lists: “(c) to provide services designed to promote simplicity, efficiency and economy in the conduct of the affairs of its member cooperatives and to facilitate the implementation of their accounting, accounting and other systems and procedures.” Art. 33 Powers of the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall be the supreme political body of the cooperative and shall exercise the powers provided for in this Code, in the Articles of Association of Cooperation and in the Articles of Association of the Cooperative.
The General Assembly has the following exclusive powers, which cannot be delegated: “114. This Chapter applies to credit unions and other cooperatives, including multi-purpose cooperatives, which grant savings and loans only to their members. The other provisions of this Code shall apply to them in so far as they are not contrary to the provisions of this Chapter. “The Government shall provide agricultural reform cooperatives with the financial and technical assistance necessary to enable them to carry out effectively the objectives assigned to them under this Article. The DAR, the Authority and the GNP shall establish a joint programme for the organisation and financing of agricultural reform cooperatives under this Chapter. The objective of the joint programme is for beneficiaries to gradually acquire full ownership and control of agricultural reform cooperatives. “(a) Income tax – on the amount allocated to interest on capital: provided that the same tax is not levied accordingly on interest received individually by members; provided that cooperatives, regardless of their classification, are exempt from income tax from the date of registration with the Authority; (3) impose quotas, caps, restrictions or other forms of regulation of the various types of accounts and practices of financial services cooperatives, which must conform to internationally recognized standards; 107 Applicability of Insurance Laws. The provisions of the Insurance Code and all other laws and regulations governing the organisation and operation of an insurance undertaking shall apply to cooperatives organised in accordance with this Code. The requirements relating to the capitalisation, investments and reserves of insurance undertakings may be modified generously after consultation with the Authority and the cooperative sector, but may in no case be reduced to less than half of the requirements laid down in the Insurance Code and other related laws. `(3) Any employee or civil servant of the State, in the exercise of his duties as a member of the cooperative, may be authorised until the end of his term of office to use the official time to attend the general meeting, meetings of the board of directors and committees of cooperatives, as well as seminars, conferences, workshops, technical meetings and training courses in Switzerland and abroad, provided that the functioning of the function concerned is not impeded. `(13) The competent housing associations and public financial institutions shall establish a special window for the financing of housing projects carried out by cooperatives, with interest rates and conditions equal to or higher than those applicable to social housing projects.
This financing takes the form of framework loans or long-term wholesale loans to qualified cooperatives, without individual transformation. “ARTICLE 87. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply primarily to agricultural reform cooperatives, provided that the provisions of the other Chapters of this Code apply in addition to them, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter. “ARTICLE 111 Regulation of cooperatives governed by public law. (1) the internal affairs of public cooperatives, such as the rights and privileges of members, the rules and procedures for meetings of the general meeting, the board of directors and committees; for the election and qualification of officers, directors and committee members; the allocation and distribution of surpluses; and all other matters concerning their internal affairs shall be governed by this Code. “94 Organization and registration. According to this code, agricultural reform cooperatives can only be set up and registered if the EWC has previously confirmed in writing that this is required and desired by the beneficiaries; The results of an appropriately conducted study demonstrate the economic feasibility of its organization and that it will be economically viable in its operations; and that they can now be organised and registered in accordance with the requirements of this Code. `(4) Land and sea passenger and/or freight transport cooperatives.
Transport cooperatives organized in accordance with the provisions of Implementing Regulation No 898, 1983 series, shall be subject to this Chapter. “ARTICLE 35. The quorum shall be at least twenty-five percent (25%) of all members entitled to vote. In the case of cooperative banks, the quorum referred to in Article 99 of this Code shall be present. In the case of electricity cooperatives registered under this Code, unless otherwise specified in the articles, five percent (5%) of all voting members shall constitute a quorum. “ARTICLE 81. The auditor submits to the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee the financial audit report, which conforms to the generally accepted auditing standards for cooperatives issued jointly by the Philippine Institute of Chartered Accountants (PICPA) and the Authority.