Coop Chamber organizes 2028 vote for policy influence

The Philippine Chamber of Cooperatives Inc. is seeking to turn its grassroots economic network into an organized political constituency, launching a 2028 senatorial initiative aimed at influencing national policies on cooperative governance, taxation, agriculture, transport, and local development.

The push matters beyond electoral politics because rules governing cooperatives affect the savings, credit access, livelihoods, farm production, transport services, and community enterprises of millions of Filipinos, making the Chamber’s attempt to organize a voting bloc a test of how economic organizations can translate membership strength into policy influence while remaining accountable to their members.

The Coop Chamber announced the initiative in Manila on Aug. 28, 2026, alongside the convening of its 3rd National Leadership Congress under the theme, “Economic Strength to Political Voice: Organizing the Cooperative Vote for National Governance.”

The organization said the congress represented millions of member-owners through 16 Regional Coop Chambers stretching from the Cordillera Administrative Region to Caraga.

The International Cooperative Alliance, which recently admitted the Philippine Chamber of Cooperatives as an associate member, said the organization was registered as a nonstock, nonprofit group on July 24, 2023, and has grown to 16 regional chambers representing 327 primary cooperatives.

The Philippines, however, currently has 18 administrative regions following the creation of the Negros Island Region in 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, meaning the Chamber’s 16 regional organizations should not be interpreted as corresponding to all administrative regions.

The Chamber said primary cooperatives have long supported financial inclusion, smallholder agriculture, transport workers, and community enterprises, but it now wants that economic presence translated into what it describes as a unified and nonpartisan political voice.

“Peace, economic stability, and shared prosperity are built when everyday citizens have a genuine stake in nation-building,” stated Noel D. Raboy, Chairperson of the Coop Chamber.

“The Cooperative Vote is not about seeking partisan favors, it is an exercise in democratic self-determination. We are inviting national leaders, from the halls of Congress to executive agencies, to stand alongside the millions of Filipinos who build our local economies every single day.”

Secretary General Edwin A. Bustillos said the Chamber intends to organize primary cooperatives across its 16 regional organizations into a more coordinated legislative constituency.

“The Senatorial Project and the Coop Vote are not merely political exercises, they are a structural awakening. By organizing primary cooperatives across all 16 regions into a disciplined, proactive legislative bloc, we are making it clear that no national policy, budget, or reform will be forged without honoring the voices and livelihoods of our millions of member-owners.”

The political mobilization is tied to the Chamber’s 2026–2028 Priority Executive and Legislative Agenda, which centers on cooperative voting rights, tax treatment, local government support, procurement, transport modernization, and utility cooperatives.

Vice Chairperson and Trustee Marlene Sindayen said democratic control should remain central to cooperative governance.

“At the very heart of the cooperative movement is the sacred principle of equity and democratic participation. Defending the ‘One Member, One Vote’ mandate guarantees that our smallest primary cooperatives, our women leaders, and our rural communities stand on equal footing in shaping the country’s economic future. True governance begins when the power remains in the hands of the people.”

The Chamber is seeking to preserve the “One Member, One Vote” rule in primary cooperatives and establish a “One Coop, One Vote” system in federations and secondary cooperatives, arguing that voting power should not be determined by share capital or organizational size.

Republic Act No. 9520, or the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, already provides that each member of a primary cooperative has one vote.

The existing law treats secondary and tertiary cooperatives differently, however, allowing each member one basic vote plus incentive votes provided in their bylaws, subject to a maximum of five votes.

The Chamber’s proposed “One Coop, One Vote” rule for federations would therefore represent a policy change rather than merely the preservation of the current statutory system.

The organization is also pressing the executive branch and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to protect tax exemptions provided to qualified cooperatives under Republic Act No. 9520.

Those exemptions are not uniform or unconditional under existing law, with tax treatment depending in part on whether cooperatives transact with nonmembers and on their accumulated reserves and undivided net savings.

The Chamber argues that favorable tax treatment recognizes the cooperative model in which economic benefits and surpluses are channeled back to members and communities rather than distributed solely on the basis of investor capital.

Its agenda also calls for legislation requiring local government units to establish dedicated Local Cooperative Development Funds and appoint specialized Cooperative Development Officers.

For agriculture, the Chamber is advocating preferential treatment for agricultural and agrarian reform cooperatives in state procurement.

It is also seeking targeted legislative support for transport modernization and utility cooperatives, sectors where regulatory and capital requirements can directly affect workers, members, and consumers.

The constitutional basis for government support of cooperatives is explicit: Article XII, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution directs Congress to create an agency that promotes the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments for social justice and economic development.

The Chamber is seeking to carry those policy priorities into the 2028 national elections through what it calls the Senatorial Project 2028.

After grassroots consultations, the organization said it plans to organize a voting base of more than 3 million people and evaluate, engage, and support senatorial candidates from within its ranks who commit to sponsoring and protecting cooperative-friendly legislation.

The more than 3 million voting-base figure was provided by the Chamber as part of the initiative.

The broader Philippine cooperative movement is considerably larger than the Chamber’s direct organizational membership, with the group itself having separately cited 13.6 million cooperative members nationwide in earlier advocacy activities.

The Chamber said the Senatorial Project is intended to operate without formal alignment with shifting partisan blocs, although supporting candidates and organizing voters would place the group directly within the political advocacy arena.

The initiative comes as Congress is considering major changes to cooperative law.

Senate Bill No. 1431, or the proposed Revised Cooperative Code of the Philippines, was filed on Sept. 30, 2025, and remains pending on second reading, according to the Senate’s legislative database.

The Coop Chamber said on Aug. 10 that House Bill No. 9584, the House version of the Revised Cooperative Code, had passed on third and final reading, while the group continued to oppose provisions it believes could weaken equal-member voting.

The Chamber said it would continue working with the Cooperative Development Authority under Chairperson Alexander B. Raquepo, the Senate and House committees handling cooperative development, national government agencies, and local government units.

Its congress program also included collaborative dialogues such as a high-level BIR Regulatory Forum and strategic sessions intended to address regulatory and policy concerns.

The organization said closer government-cooperative engagement could strengthen the sector’s contribution to poverty reduction, food security, and sustainable economic development.

The Chamber called on primary cooperatives, regional leaders, civil society organizations, and the media to follow the initiative as it builds toward the 2028 elections.

For the cooperative movement, the broader question is whether an organized electoral constituency can secure policies that improve members’ livelihoods while retaining the democratic, member-controlled principles that distinguish cooperatives from conventional investor-owned businesses.