Last May 28, 2017, a PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES SEMINAR was conducted at Harbor Lights, Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City. The speaker, Atty. Jonathan P. Capanas, CPA from Cooperative and Resources Management Center Inc. (CRMC),  provided inputs regarding the basics of parliamentary procedure and how it can be applied in the different transactions within cooperatives.

Parliamentary procedure is an approved and uniform method of conducting meetings in a fair, democratic, and efficient manner, thus ensuring order in organizations. The parliamentary procedure provides standard protocols and rules to follow during the conduct of the meeting. This includes the declaration of quorum, reading of the previous minutes, reports of the different committees, new business and other announcements, among others. There are also measures to be observed in order to be recognized and before one can have the floor. This is done to make sure that everyone has the chance to be heard. All motions are voted by the body based on the will of the majority.

As an organized group of people, the cooperative benefits much from adopting parliamentary procedure in their meetings. For one, the cooperative consists of different committees where various agenda are being discussed. An essential feature of the parliamentary procedure is that one motion is discussed one at a time, thus the use of such procedure during meetings ensures that all important matters are tackled by the body and that no issue will be left “un-turned”. Following a certain method of voting also ensures that decisions are transparent and are agreed upon by everyone, thus firmly securing the decision of the entire body. This lessens conflicts and disagreements within the organization.

Although the use of the parliamentary procedure allows free speech and the rule of majority, participants were reminded that the cooperation of all the members is still vital to create an atmosphere of trust and respect within the organization, leading to the achievement of the group’s goals and purpose.

This activity was done as part of the cooperative’s norming protocol.  It was attended by a total of 51 participants, where (34) from DMPI-ECCC, (9) from ASMPC, (7) from BCC and (1) from DEARBC.