A GLIMPSE OF ITS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Cooperative come, fall and die. Funds are lost through mismanagement and manipulation by some cooperative members themselves. Led by self-seeking officials, this portrays the vicious cycle mismanaged cooperative through machinations of some leaders. Similarly this was exactly the stark reality experience by the residents of Barangay Lico who are mostly small owner-cultivators and farmer beneficiaries of the CARP. One would not therefore wonder why there was hesitance and skepticism in the community when DAR staff of the province of Biliran after a lot of orientation and convincing set off to organize another coop in the area at this time trying to be different. Optimistically, under the leadership of Mrs. Rebecca V. Payos, the cooperative was born and subsequently registered on February 21, 2003 with only 23 members and P4, 600.00 paid-up capital. It was named Lico Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LICARB MPC) which then initially engaged in micro-lending activities and food processing enterprise with the incessant support from DAR and DTI imbued with the virtues of patience and perseverance of its officials and members the cooperative survived in its humble business and from then on steadily sustained its operation.

Cognizant of the growing needs of the members especially the rice farmers, the coop had availed production loan assistance from DAR through the Land Bank of the Philippine (LBP) under the Credit Assistance Program for Program Beneficiaries Development (CAP-PBDIII) the coop has maintained a 100% repayment rate on its six cycles of availment through excellent management of the funds. The proceeds of such endeavor was then utilized by them in the acquisition a lot and construction of their office.

In compliance to RA 9520, the coop had re-registered with the CDA last October 26, 2009. In February 6 2012, the coop amended and adopted its new name Lico Agrarian reform Cooperative (LARCOOP). As of 2012, the LARCOOP posted a total asset of more than P504, 000.00. Concurrently, its officers continue to lead with honesty, responsibility and transparency which found trust among one another and renewed hopes for better economic condition.

The coop had been identified and chosen as the lead ARB organization of the ARC Connectivity Economic Support Project (ARCCESS) on Rice Productivity Enhancement Project cum Marketing Support System (RPEP-MaSS). Under this project, the LARCOOP would then be provided with Common services Facilities (CSF) and Busines Development Provider (BDS) which would ultimately boost its capability in serving not only its members but the entire community as well.

The best has yet to come for LARCOOP as embarked another challenge on its partnership with DAR and NATCCO for its Microfinance Innovations in Cooperatives (MICOOP) program.

After years of engaging in farming, members of a farmers’ cooperative here has ventured into another field, this time as bankers.

“Very inspiring is the story of the Lico Agrarian Reform Cooperative or LARCoop,” Department of Agrarian Reform Region 8 Director Eliasem Castillo said. From a struggling farmers organization, slowly but surely, LARCoop is now among the more stable organizations in the province of Biliran.

The Lico Agrarian Reform Cooperative (LARCoop) added not so long ago quasi-banking into their list of income generating projects.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recommended LARCoop to National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) to avail of the latter’s credit facilities and other assistances. Unfortunately, LARCoop failed to get NATCCO’s nod in its first try. Determined, however, LARCoop in its second attempt finally became the 56th cooperative and the first from Region-8 to be able to avail of NATCCO’s microfinance assistance (under MICOOP program) which included a P10-million loan payable in five years.

As preparation, its management team together with other cooperatives attended in 2012 the Microfinance, Governance and Administration (MIGOA) seminar-workshop held here in Naval. Chairperson Rebecca Payos afterwards together with seven other coop members, as a follow through activity, underwent a seminar on Microfinance Basic Capacity Building (MIBCB) in Cebu City and a five-day on-the-job training or immersion in Siaton, Negros Oriental.

From this loan, the LARCoop opened a quasi-bank on December 18, 2012 at the downtown area of Naval, the provincial capital of Biliran with DAR officials, representatives from the NATCCO and local government units in attendance to witness the event, which was a monumental manifestation of the growth of the said cooperative.

The LARCOOP offers savings deposit, time deposit, kiddie deposit as well as loan assistance (providential, productive and microfinance), though limited to members only. Its primary goal is to address the financial needs of its members at very low interest rates.

On its launching day alone, 35 member-depositors opened accounts. As the coop expanded its operations, LARCoop opened their membership to residents of the Province of Biliran.

The coop was chosen by Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) Ismael Aya-ay to be the lead agrarian reform beneficiary organization (ARBO) who will take charge of the farm machineries distributed under the Agrarian Reform Communities Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS), which will be used in realizing their agribusiness activities, such as their “Rice Productivity Enhancement Project”. These machines may give them additional income in the form of rentals.

Indeed, Larcoop has seven (7) full time staff and office located in the downtown of Naval. The coop is fully computerized and have Policy, System and Procedure which they don’t have before. From 140 member to 1, 964 as of July 31, 2018, Assets of 504,000 to 18,536,534.13, Internal Fund Generation (IFG) mobilization of 11,717,534.13 which the coop received an award during the 2014 MICOOP PERFORMANCE AWARD for achieving the Highest Percentage Increase of 96.49% on internal fund generation. Serving the whole Province of Biliran, the coop engaged in community service – feeding program for the malnourished children, sponsor the fun run and serving the farmers to access easily of their financial assistance. Larcoop are not only focusing for the success of the operation or the coop alone but also the welfare of the members and the community.