Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008

Article 135

The Labor Code and all other labor laws, the Social Security Act, the Medical Care Act, and all other social legislations, and all other laws and executive orders shall apply to cooperatives duly registered under this Code.

Article 136

The Authority shall establish a register which shall contain a chronological entry of the name of every cooperative registered or dissolved under this Code together with the basic information required for registration or dissolution and any other information considered useful. The Authority shall publish annually a list of existing cooperatives, cooperatives under dissolution and those whose registration are cancelled during the year together with such information on each of them as may be prescribed in the rules and regulations.

Article 137

Disputes among members, officers, directors, and committee members, and intra-cooperative, inter-cooperative, intra-federation or inter-federation disputes shall, as far as practicable, be settled amicably in accordance with the conciliation or mediation mechanisms embodied in the bylaws of cooperatives and in such other applicable laws. The conciliation and mediation committee of the cooperative shall facilitate the amicable settlement of intra-cooperative disputes and disputes among members, officers, directors, and committee members. Should such conciliation or mediation proceeding fail, the matter shall be settled through voluntary arbitration: Provided, however, That before any party can validly file a complaint with the Authority for voluntary arbitration, it must first secure a certification from its conciliation and mediation committee and from its conciliation and mediation committee and from the cooperative union or federation to which it belongs that despite all efforts to settle the issues, the same have failed. The jurisdiction of the voluntary arbitrators shall be exclusive and original and their decisions shall be appealable to the Office of the President. The Authority shall issue and adopt the proper rules of procedure governing arbitration as the primary and exclusive mode for dispute resolution in accordance with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004. For this purpose, the Authority shall constitute a list of qualified voluntary arbitrators.

Article 138

There is hereby created a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee composed of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Cooperatives and the Chairman of the House Committee on Cooperatives Development, with four (4) members each from both Houses. The said members shall be duly appointed by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the members of the respective committee based on the proportional representation of the parties or coalition therein. The Joint Oversight Committee shall review and approve the implementing rules and regulations of this Code and monitor its proper implementation. The annual appropriate for the oversight committee shall be charged to the budget of both Houses of Congress in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).