GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED COOPERATIVES IN THE FIRST DISTRICT OF QUEZON PROVINCE

The research sought to assess the governance and performance of selected cooperatives in the First District of Quezon Province. Specifically, the research evaluated the profile of members, the services of the cooperatives and their financial status. Governance of cooperative was assessed in terms of transparency, accountability, responsibility, independence, fairness and participation. A descriptive research method was used. Purposive sampling was used to select the eight cooperatives from the eight municipalities. Respondents of the study were the members, elected and appointed officials, and employees of the cooperatives. A questionnaire was formulated using the Cooperative Code of 2008 of the Republic of the Philippines. Results showed that the cooperatives are rendering services in the form of loans in addition to the specialized services needed by the community such as providing grocery stores, CATV services, electrical supplies, water refilling station, insurance, trading of agricultural products (palay, rice, copra), selling of fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs, rice milling, and selling of house and lot. The cooperatives are in good standing and has millions of capital from the share capital of members. They have acquired millions of assets and continuously gaining millions of net surplus from its operation. They also have higher level of return on assets and equity, high liquidity level and low solvency status. The members of the cooperatives trust the transparency, accountability, responsibility, independence, fairness, and participation governance of the organization. With regard to their level of performance, the selected cooperatives from the selected municipalities of the First District of Quezon Province have obtained higher net surplus from its operations, higher level of return on assets and return on equity, and have the capacity to pay its obligation. The current ratio of the six cooperatives (NFUCCoop, ICDeC, Cooperative of Real, TCMC, PEARLS and QUAFMUCO is above one while Farmers MPC, and MACDECO is below one. Three out 8 cooperatives are also not solvent. It is strongly recommended that the community be educated about cooperation and cooperative services for them to harness the benefits of cooperativism. A database for the cooperatives in Quezon Province should be updated regularly. The cooperatives as people organization must also be strengthened for ASEAN integration in terms of quality and standard goods and services, capitalization and human resource capabilities.