Section 19February 17, 2009, Sec./Art. 19

Articles 119, 120 and 121 of Chapter XVI on Miscellaneous Provisions of the same Code are hereby amended and shall now read, as follows:

CHAPTER XVIII

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

"ART. 135. Compliance With Other Laws. The Labor Code and all other labor laws, the Social Security Act, the Medical Care Act, and all other social legislations, and all other laws and executive orders shall apply to cooperatives duly registered under this Code.

"ART. 136. Register of Cooperatives. The Authority shall establish a register which shall contain a chronological entry of the name of every cooperative registered or dissolved under this Code together with the basic information required for registration or dissolution and any other information considered useful. The Authority shall publish annually a list of existing cooperatives, cooperatives under dissolution and those whose registration are cancelled during the year together with such information on each of them as may be prescribed in the rules and regulations.

"ART. 137. Settlement of Disputes, Conciliation, and Mediation Proceedings. Disputes among members, officers, directors, and committee members, and intra-cooperative, inter-cooperative, intra-federation or inter-federation disputes shall, as far as practicable, be settled amicably in accordance with the conciliation or mediation mechanisms embodied in the bylaws of cooperatives and in such other applicable laws.

"The conciliation and mediation committee of the cooperative shall facilitate the amicable settlement of intra-cooperative disputes and disputes among members, officers, directors, and committee members.

"Should such conciliation or mediation proceeding fail, the matter shall be settled through voluntary arbitration: Provided, however, That before any party can validly file a complaint with the Authority for voluntary arbitration, it must first secure a certification from its conciliation and mediation committee and from its conciliation and mediation committee and from the cooperative union or federation to which it belongs that despite all efforts to settle the issues, the same have failed.

"The jurisdiction of the voluntary arbitrators shall be exclusive and original and their decisions shall be appealable to the Office of the President. The Authority shall issue and adopt the proper rules of procedure governing arbitration as the primary and exclusive mode for dispute resolution in accordance with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004.

"For this purpose, the Authority shall constitute a list of qualified voluntary arbitrators."