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If you picture a Philippine cooperative, you might think of savings accounts, loans, farm products, electricity, or a community store.
But more than a century ago, one of the country's earliest cooperatives was doing something much simpler.
It was selling books and supplies.
On October 20, 1916, the College Consumers Cooperative was organized at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture, now the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It began with 27 founders, made up of faculty members, employees, and students, who put together ₱4,000 in paid-up share capital. Its business was straightforward: provide books and other supplies to the college community.
That may sound ordinary today, but the timing is worth noting.
The cooperative was established just a little over a year after the passage of Act No. 2508, the Rural Credit Law of 1915, one of the country's earliest laws providing for the organization and operation of rural agricultural cooperatives.
And the little cooperative did not stay little in what it offered.
As the needs of the UPLB community changed, so did the cooperative. Its operations eventually expanded to include groceries, classroom and laboratory supplies, household necessities, meals and snacks, a canteen, a barber shop, photocopying, internet services, and other goods and services. At certain points, it also provided goods and services on credit.
Its role became particularly useful during and after World War II. According to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), traveling to Manila to obtain needed goods was expensive and time-consuming for members of the UPLB community. Having a cooperative within the community made those necessities more accessible.
There is something interesting about that history.
The cooperative did not begin by trying to offer everything. It started with a need that its members already had. Books. Supplies. Everyday necessities.
Then, as those needs changed, the cooperative changed with them.
That idea still fits the way Philippine cooperatives are defined today. Under Republic Act No. 9520, the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, cooperatives are associations of people who voluntarily come together to address their social, economic, and cultural needs and aspirations. The law also allows cooperatives to provide goods and services, mobilize savings, extend credit, develop skills, provide housing benefits, operate enterprises, and pursue other activities that serve their members.
So, here's the fun part of the story:
One of the country's earliest cooperatives did not start with loans, sophisticated financial systems, or a long list of services. It started with 27 people, ₱4,000, and a place to buy books and supplies.
More than 100 years later, that small beginning offers a useful way to look at cooperatives. Their work can change as their communities change. What matters is not necessarily where a cooperative starts, but whether it continues to respond to what its members actually need.
Sometimes, the history of a cooperative can be found in something as simple as a book on a shelf.
Sources
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). The 100 Years of a Consumers Cooperative: A Story of Hard Work and Strong Heart for Cooperativism. October 18, 2016.
Republic of the Philippines. Republic Act No. 9520 – Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008. February 17, 2009. Cooperative Development Authority.
CDA – Official copy of Republic Act No. 9520. Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.
But more than a century ago, one of the country's earliest cooperatives was doing something much simpler.
It was selling books and supplies.
On October 20, 1916, the College Consumers Cooperative was organized at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture, now the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It began with 27 founders, made up of faculty members, employees, and students, who put together ₱4,000 in paid-up share capital. Its business was straightforward: provide books and other supplies to the college community.
That may sound ordinary today, but the timing is worth noting.
The cooperative was established just a little over a year after the passage of Act No. 2508, the Rural Credit Law of 1915, one of the country's earliest laws providing for the organization and operation of rural agricultural cooperatives.
And the little cooperative did not stay little in what it offered.
As the needs of the UPLB community changed, so did the cooperative. Its operations eventually expanded to include groceries, classroom and laboratory supplies, household necessities, meals and snacks, a canteen, a barber shop, photocopying, internet services, and other goods and services. At certain points, it also provided goods and services on credit.
Its role became particularly useful during and after World War II. According to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), traveling to Manila to obtain needed goods was expensive and time-consuming for members of the UPLB community. Having a cooperative within the community made those necessities more accessible.
There is something interesting about that history.
The cooperative did not begin by trying to offer everything. It started with a need that its members already had. Books. Supplies. Everyday necessities.
Then, as those needs changed, the cooperative changed with them.
That idea still fits the way Philippine cooperatives are defined today. Under Republic Act No. 9520, the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, cooperatives are associations of people who voluntarily come together to address their social, economic, and cultural needs and aspirations. The law also allows cooperatives to provide goods and services, mobilize savings, extend credit, develop skills, provide housing benefits, operate enterprises, and pursue other activities that serve their members.
So, here's the fun part of the story:
One of the country's earliest cooperatives did not start with loans, sophisticated financial systems, or a long list of services. It started with 27 people, ₱4,000, and a place to buy books and supplies.
More than 100 years later, that small beginning offers a useful way to look at cooperatives. Their work can change as their communities change. What matters is not necessarily where a cooperative starts, but whether it continues to respond to what its members actually need.
Sometimes, the history of a cooperative can be found in something as simple as a book on a shelf.
Sources
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). The 100 Years of a Consumers Cooperative: A Story of Hard Work and Strong Heart for Cooperativism. October 18, 2016.
Republic of the Philippines. Republic Act No. 9520 – Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008. February 17, 2009. Cooperative Development Authority.
CDA – Official copy of Republic Act No. 9520. Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.