Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto emphasized the importance of transparency to ensure the efficiency of the Pasig City Employees Multipurpose Cooperative (PCEMPC). In a speech delivered on Monday, May 22, Sotto said the PCEMPC recently held a meeting with him to present their group’s new programs and plans, which he noted as good plans. He also lauded the co-op for its successful implementation of programs so far. He shared that the previous co-op of the local government had problems with transparency and financial accountability, which he hoped the new co-op officials would bear in mind. “Napakaimportant sa isang organization, pamahalaan, kooperatiba, o NGO (non-government organization) na may pananagutan o accountability. Ibig sabihin kailangan malinaw ang financial statements, magkano ang nakokolekta at nagagastos  (It is vital for an organization, be it a government, cooperative or NGO, to have accountability. That means financial statements need to be clear, indicating the amount of money collected by the co-op and its expenses),” Sotto said. “Para magtiwala muli ang empleyado natin sa ating kooperatiba, ayusin natin (We must fix our kooperative in order for our employees to trust in it again),” he added. According to him, transparency can be enforced by regularly releasing financial statements. All problems encountered and experienced by the co-op should also be relayed and reported to its members, especially in regards to the misuse of funds. He advised government employees to change the common mindset of cooperatives as mere places to get loans, which he noted was not a problem in and of itself especially if there is an emergency. “Ang layunin talaga natin dito ay magkaroon ng isa pang source of income ang ating mga empleyado…Ang target talaga natin, pag miyembro ang empleyado natin ng co-op, meron silang one month extra income sa loob ng isang taon (Our goal here is to provide another source of income for our employees…Our target for our co-op employee members is giving them one month of extra income within one year)” he said. Membership to the co-op is not mandatory, however he urged employees who have not yet joined the co-op to help support its programs. The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) defines a workers’ co-op as a group “organized by workers, including the self-employed, who are at the same time the members and owners of the enterprise” with the principal purpose of “providing employment and business opportunities to its members and manage it in accordance with cooperative principles.”