Legal basis and governing framework
- The Circular is adopted pursuant to Article 44 of Republic Act No. 9520 and Section 5 of Rule 7 of its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
- The accreditation framework is designed to operate under Republic Act No. 9520 through the cooperative education and training accreditation system.
Policy, purpose, and program aim
- The Circular applies to accreditation of providers of education and training services to cooperatives.
- The accreditation program aims to institutionalize the conduct of well-coordinated, rationalized, and standardized education and training for cooperatives and their officers and members in line with Republic Act No. 9520.
Defined terms
- Accreditation refers only to the accreditation of providers of education and training services to cooperatives.
- Authority refers to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
- Trainers are individual persons belonging to the pool of trainers who possess the qualifications required for trainers.
- Training provider refers to an institution or organization providing or offering training courses, including short courses, skills programs, and full qualifications.
Coverage and who is excluded
- The Circular applies to organizations or institutions conducting training to cooperatives, including:
- Advocacy and Education cooperatives
- Cooperative federations
- Cooperative unions
- Training institutions
- Government Organizations (GOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs)
- Local Government units (LGUs)
- State Universities & Colleges (SUCs) and the academe
- The Circular does not cover primary cooperatives that are not registered as advocacy and education cooperatives.
- The accreditation applies to cooperative training providers that seek accreditation, renewal, and continued authority to conduct cooperative training for cooperative officers and members.
Initial accreditation requirements
- Initial accreditation requires the applicant to meet the minimum qualifications and documentary requirements.
- The applicant must possess these minimum qualifications:
- Must have juridical personality
- Must have cooperative development program/s
- Must maintain a pool of at least five (5) competent cooperative trainers
- The trainers must meet all minimum qualifications:
- Must be of legal age
- Must be a Filipino residing in the Philippines
- Must be the holder of at least a Bacheloras degree
- Must have attended or completed a training course for cooperative trainers
- Must have at least two (2) years experience as a resource person on cooperatives
- Must be knowledgeable on basic philosophy of cooperatives
- The applicant must file a letter-application directly to the CDA Extension Office (CDA-EO) where the applicant is based.
- The application must attach duly certified true copies of the required documents, depending on the applicant type:
- Cooperatives, Federations, and Unions must submit:
- Certificate of Good Standing (CGS) issued by the CDA specifically for the purpose of accreditation
- Organizational profile, including:
- Basic information (name/address/contact details)
- List of programs and services
- Historical profile of cooperative training conducted
- Affiliations, if any
- List of key officers and staff
- List of trainers with their individual profile/bio-data
- Cooperative Annual Performance Report (CAPR) and audited financial statements of the immediate preceding year
- Training Institutions/NGOs/Academe must submit:
- Certificate of Registration from the concerned Philippine Government Agency
- Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws showing cooperative development is one of its objectives and purposes, or cooperative development is one of its identified program thrusts
- Business Permit
- Organizational profile, including:
- Basic information (name/address/contact details)
- List of programs and services
- Historical profile of cooperative training conducted
- Affiliations, if any
- List of key officers and staff
- List of trainers with their individual profile/bio-data
- Annual Reports and audited financial statements for the last 2 years
- GOs/LGUs/SUCs must submit:
- A certification from the head of the agency that the office/unit has a cooperative development program, in lieu of the Certificate of Registration; or appropriate local issuance(s) creating the office for LGUs
- Organizational profile, including:
- Basic information (name/address/contact details)
- List of programs and services
- Historical profile of cooperative training conducted
- List of key officers and staff
- List of trainers with their individual profile/bio-data
- Cooperatives, Federations, and Unions must submit:
Curriculum adoption and undertaking
- Accredited cooperative training providers must submit an undertaking to adopt the CDA prescribed cooperative training curriculum for cooperative officers.
- The undertaking is required to standardize the minimum knowledge and information that cooperative officers need to acquire.
Fees, renewal, and accreditation validity
- The Circular establishes these accreditation fees:
- Application Fee: PHP 3,000.00
- Renewal Fee: PHP 5,000.00
- Re-application Fee: PHP 5,000.00
- A provider may apply for renewal two (2) months prior to the expiration of its accreditation.
- A renewal application must be filed with the concerned CDA Extension Office (CDA EO) and must include:
- Letter-application for renewal
- Annual report and the latest audited financial statement
- List of trainings conducted, including names of participants and dates/venues
- Updated list of trainers
- Renewal fee
- Renewal approval is subject to the Authority’s power to review and evaluate training activities and qualifications on the assessment provided by the CDA.
- Failure to conduct training within the accreditation period is a ground for non-renewal.
- Accreditation validity periods are:
- Initial accreditation: valid for one (1) year from the approval date unless earlier revoked by the Authority
- Renewal of accreditation: valid for two (2) years from the approval date unless earlier revoked by the Authority
Renewal, reporting, and program oversight
- Accredited providers must comply with accreditation renewal conditions, including submission of required renewal documents and payment of the renewal fee of PHP 5,000.00.
- Accredited providers must submit a copy of the Annual Report on training activities conducted, including participants trained, to the Authority within ten (10) days after the close of every year, for information and guidance.
- The CDA maintains a publicly accessible list of all Accredited Cooperative Training Providers available to the cooperative sector and posted on the CDA website.
Accreditation jurisdiction, revocation, and sanctions
- Accreditation and revocation of accreditation of cooperative training providers are handled by the CDA Board of Administrators (BOA) through:
- Office of the Executive Director (OED) and
- Institutional Development Department (IDD)
- Accreditation is subject to cancellation/revocation for non-compliance, including:
- Non-compliance with any provisions of the Circular
- Non-compliance with rules and regulations issued by the Authority
- Non-compliance with accreditation requirements
- A cooperative training provider whose accreditation is cancelled may re-apply for accreditation.
- No further re-accreditation is granted after two (2) cancellations.
- In re-application, the procedures and requirements for renewal must be observed.
Posting, liability limitation, repeals, and effectivity
- The list of accredited cooperative training providers must be made available to the cooperative sector and posted at the CDA website.
- The CDA is not held liable for any damage or loss that may arise from cooperatives’ selection of an accredited cooperative training provider to engage for their training.
- Repealing clause: Memorandum Circular No. 2004-10 dated June 10, 2004 and the Guidelines for the Recognition of Non-Government Organizations issued on September 24, 1991, including all other inconsistent issuances, are deemed repealed.
- The Circular’s effectivity is fifteen (15) days upon receipt by the ONAR.