MINDANAO Alliance for Self-Help Societies-Southern Philippines Educational Cooperative Center (MASS-SPECC), celebrated its 41st Anniversary coinciding with its 34th Annual General Assembly, 30th Central Fund Anniversary and the 39th Mindanao Coop Leaders’ Congress last April 25-27, 2008 at Waterfront Insular Hotel, Davao City.

With the theme: “Pooling Cooperative Resources: Expanding Services and Reach for Mindanao Peace and Development”, the assembly kicked-off with the Mindanao Coop Leaders Congress highlighted with a National Situationer input by Prof. Benjamin Tolosa, Jr, of Ateneo de Manila University. Sectoral congresses on Youth, women, coop managers and coop board of directors later ensued. The event was later spiced up with an elaborate grand opening program highlighted by a cultural presentation from the member-cooperatives and the Kaliwat Theater Collective.

Gracing the affair are cooperative leaders and supporters led by Congressman Guillermo P. Cua from the Coop-NATCCO Party List, Undersecretary Lecira V. Juarez, CDA chairperson, RC Rolando B. Abando of the PhilDHRRA NGO Network, Ms. Dolores Corro of MinCODE, and Ms. Veronica Villavicencio, Executive Director of the Peace and Equity Fdn who gave the Keynote Speech for the evening.

It was also a momentous celebration of the cooperative as it celebrated its 41ST SPECC Anniversary inspired with a theme that expresses a common desire for the cooperative network and its members to pool their resources together and advance peace and development, as the Mindanao landscape continues to challenge the cooperatives.

More than 200 cooperative leaders and officers from MASS-SPECC’s affiliates all throughout Mindanao participate in these grand events including the thematic sessions in the second day focusing on strengthening and mainstreaming cooperatives, expanding cooperative services thru electronic financial services, cooperatives and microMBA, and on the continuing work of the coop-NATCCO Partylist for favorable policy environment for cooperatives.

Over the years, MASS-SPECC has proven its leadership in the cooperative movement by providing services to its members such as training, education, consultancy, central fund system, hostel services, and information technology. It is also successful in providing coops with MSRTE (MASS-SPECC Standard Run-Time Edition) accounting software, which is now running live in 134 sites all over Mindanao as of 2007 and has pioneered in introducing ATM (Automated Teller Machine) services to its affiliates hooked with Megalink.

MASS-SPECC is slated for recognition as PhilDHRRA-Mindanao’s Commendable Member awardees for 2007 on the occasion of its 25th Silver Anniversary in Manila.