VICTO National’s journey moved from organizing households into co-operatives in the 70s to building the capacity of these co-operatives to be effective and efficient instruments of development. In its 4th decade, VICTO National has devoted its programs and services to enterprise development for individual members, the co-ops, and between and amongst co-ops. VICTO National has a collective strength of 270 affiliates nationwide owning aggregate assets of upwards PHP 30 billion. The theme of the 47th General Assembly was ‘the Power to Act’. The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Balu Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP on Co-operatives: the Power to Act for a Sustainable Future.

The report brought out to celebrate the occasion had a dramatic statement – The Power NOT to Act. The drama of the cover was in the red NOT to show the apathy towards the call to action. The 700 member audience was asked to look at the faces - old and young, male and female, urban and rural – and ponder on the reasons for their ‘being’. The audience tore away the red NOT and read out the statement underneath, “The members are looking at you, the reader, telling you that you have the power to act… for and with them to secure a sustainable future for co-operatives.”