Asiapro’s advocacy of SELF-HELP
synonymous to Rochdale Pioneers Society

In the Philippines, Asiapro Cooperative pioneers and advocates the principle of “self-help”.    Asiapro started with founding officers and key stewards namely: Leo G. Parma, Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board, Edmundo Castañeda, Chairman of the Board, Gabriel Quemado II, President and General Manager, and Rolando Malana, Chief Finance Officer.  Currently, the organization boasts of a strong 34,000 membership-base spread all over the country.

With a decade of experience, the Cooperative is now the leading worker-owned social enterprise that constantly provides opportunities to its worker-owners in terms of livelihood and job generation.  Specifically, worker-owners offer service value by providing skills and expertise in their work assignments.  The Cooperative then, would ensure that these members are socially protected in terms of getting decent pay and benefits.   In the process, the worker-owner values the dignity of his work that gives him security, thus, providing the income that could sustain their families and lifestyle. 
  

Rochdale Pioneers Society

Looking back at history, the concept of “self-help” actually started when workers in the year 1844, weavers actually and members of the Rochdale Pioneers Society, contributed one pound each with the thought of helping themselves because their situation called for it.  They bought milk, wheat, yeast and sold it among their society members at a very minimum mark-up.  It helped them subsist in those years called “Hungry Forties” which literally meant that people were starving after the war, and people almost had nothing.  “Good food at a good price” was actually the campaign of the Society who later started meeting as officers and board members.  Eventually, the global cooperative movement bestowed upon Rochdale Pioneers Society, who were actually Robert Owen followers, the prestige of being named as the “cooperative founding fathers.” 

They continued to grow in numbers and their spirits were up.   The Society members carried on their work and they succeeded in supplementing members with their basic needs, espousing “self-help” and “solidarity” which became “buzz” words among Rochdale Society members.

see link: http://www.cdi.coop/historyofcoops.php