Ethical
Standard in
Cooperatives
Ethical is the
new normal

• Section 9. Ethics Committee. An Ethics Committee
shall be composed of three (3) members to be
appointed by the Board of Directors. Within ten (10)
days after their appointment, they shall elect from
among themselves a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson
and a Secretary who shall serve for a term of one (1)
year r until their successors shall have been appointed
and qualified and without prejudice to their
reappointment. No member of the Committee shall hold
any other position in the Cooperative during his/her
term of office.
• Section 10. Functions and Responsibilities. The
Ethics Committee shall:
a. Formulate, develop, implement and monitor the
Code of Governance and Ethical Standards (CGES) to
be observed by the members, officers and employees of
the cooperative subject to the approval of the Board of
Directors and ratification by the General Assembly;

Create Public Value
Meet mandates and fulfill missions
Produce fundamental decisions and actions that
shape and guide what the organization is, what it
does, and why it does it
Organize
participation
Create ideas for
strategic action Build a winning
coalition
Implement
strategies
Purposes and Functions of Strategic Planning
(Bryson, 2004b, p 25)
Securing the future

• Create public value by meeting
mandates by fulfilling your missions.
In order to do so, the organization
must produce fundamental decisions
and actions that shape and guide
what the organization is, what it
does, and why it does so.
Create
public value

• Service.
• Social justice.
• Dignity and worth of the person.
• Importance of human relationships.
• Integrity.
• Competence.

Ethical Values
In the tradition of their founders,
cooperative members believe in the
ethical values of:
Honesty. Truthfulness, fairness and
sincerity in all dealings. The
dealings may be between the
members & the cooperative; among
members the themselves; between
& among cooperatives.

Code of Conduct
A set of rules of behavior for the
officers, employees and members of
the cooperative in accordance with
their agreed ethical standards.

• Openness. One that promotes
collaboration where the members
are free to share their views and
suggestions with an emphasis on
learning as opposed to being right.
Characterized by transparency and
free access to knowledge and
information.

Social Responsibility is the opportunity to be involved
in an endeavor that satisfies a higher order need of
every human being – that of being able to actively
participate in the sharing community. the passion of the
cooperative to be of service to people in the
community is overwhelming”.
Indeed, reports from multi-purpose cooperatives,
coops in agriculture, agrarian reform, transportation,
credit and marketing, among others, have shown that
cooperatives are indeed going an extra mile to serve
their members and communities.

Caring For Others.
Immediately after the ECQ was
declared in March to stem the
spread of COVID-19, the
Cooperative Development
Authority (CDA) issued a
directive allowing the use of
the Community Development
Fund (CDF) to help out the
families affected by the
suspension of work and vital
services. The CDF was
budgeted to fund projects or
activities that benefit
communities in the respective
areas of cooperatives.

Common Areas of Ethical Concern
• Leadership qualities/traits
• Workplace Culture
• Rights and privileges (abuses)
• Business transactions (conflict of interest)
• Conduct of meetings (decorum)
• Compliance with existing laws/policies

1. Pay your loans on time.
2. Save and be the model in the CBU program
of your co-op.
3. Never discuss in public cooperative matters
that should be kept private.
Simple Code of Ethics: For Members