Tabuk City, Kalinga – The Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) marked its 50th anniversary this month amidst an unprecedented surge in growth.
Despite the economic contraction brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the cooperative posted its largest annual asset growth ever of P332M in 2020 and with its asset increase in 2021 already standing at P263M at the end of September, it is poised to surpass the 2020 asset increase at the end of the year.
Finance Officer Geronimo Sacramento, Jr. said that the cooperative was able to forestall the negative effects of the pandemic by streamlining the processing and acceptance of members which resulted in more rapid expansion of membership with the corresponding share capital inflow.
Sacramento explained that members are motivated to deposit more and non-members are prompted to join the cooperative by the higher interest rates being given by the cooperative pursuant to its policy to give competitive interest rates.
Under the policy, the TAMPCO offers interest rate which is at least 1 percent higher than prevailing bank interest rates.
Sacramento said that at the moment, the cooperative’s interest rates for time deposits is 2.5 percent per annum and for savings 1 percent per annum as compared to the prevailing bank time deposits special rate of 1 percent and less than 1 percent for regular time deposits.
Asked how the cooperative could afford the higher interest rates, Sacramento explained: “Our depositors are our members and as such, are the main source of our income generation. By bringing their money to the cooperative, they help the business of the cooperative which in turn, enables the cooperative to give higher returns as incentive for their support.”
As of the end of September, the total assets of TAMPCO has reached P2,287,859,179.17.
As of 2020, asset-wise, TAMPCO was the third largest cooperatives in the Cordillera behind the Benguet State University and Community Multi-purpose Cooperative (BSUCMPC) and Baguio-Benguet Community Credit Cooperative (BBCCC) and was listed as No. 55 among the billionaire cooperatives of the country.
As of September 31, 2021, the total membership stood at 42,513 17,433 with five branches located in Santiago City and Quezon town in the province of Isabela, Rizal and Pinukpuk in Kalinga and Conner in Apayao.
Birth and birth pains
Originally named Tabuk Cooperative Credit Union, Inc. (TCCUI), the cooperative was founded on March 14, 1971 by members of Episcopal St. Thomas Church in Dagupan, Tabuk, Kalinga-Apayao as community-based credit union. It had 33 members and an initial asset base of P1,235.00 from share capital contributions when it was registered with the Cooperative Administration Office on October 21, 1971.
The cooperative had its own share of adversities.
From 1975 to 1980, due to lack of education on the principles, systems and values of cooperativism on the part of members and inadequate managerial skills on the part of the officers, the cooperative floundered as its resources steadily declined.
The cooperative was saved from certain collapse by the timely intervention of Milagros Turingan, senior cooperative examiner of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development of Region 2 and the Galo D. Weygan Accounting Office of Baguio City who diagnosed the problems and recommended remedies.
The initial diversification of services after the TCCUI was converted into a multi-purpose cooperative and renamed Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative in 1991 failed primarily due to the heavy overhead. The TAMPCO Agribusiness, which was set up in 1991 folded up in 2002 after consistently incurring heavy losses.
The merchandizing operation which went to business in 1987 and the clinic and the pharmacy which were established with the help of a Canadian cooperative organization in 2001 suffered the same fate and were shut down in 2006.
Apparently, the cooperative has learned its lessons because according to Sacramento, the current allied services namely the TAMPCO Inn and Training Center located at the agribusiness complex compound, the TAMPCO Funeral Care, the TAMPCO Pi Water Refilling Station and the TAMPCO Gasoline Station located at barangay Magsaysay are all earning.
Secrets of success
Regarding the keys to the prosperity of TAMPCO, Prime Bishop Renato Abibico who was Board Chairman in 1994-1995, 1997-1998 and 2008-2010 said: “The secret of the success of TAMPCO is the clear objectives of the founding fathers. First, basically, it was a self-reliant move on their part. They were not thinking of any outside support unlike cooperatives set up be government which withered when the support of the government was withdrawn. Second, they also thought of the cooperative as an integral part of the mission of the church to address the material aspect of human life. Once you have clear objectives, you are sure where you are going.”
Petra Baguiwen who was CEO from 2006 to 2015 cites the vitality of trust in the life of cooperatives enumerating the following as the means which the TAMPCO has gained and is keeping the trust of its clients and the general public: trustworthiness of the people running the cooperative; proper security for the money and titles entrusted to the cooperative which includes the installation of a vault; and the simple lives the Staff and the officers lead.
For his part, former Board Chairman and incumbent CEO Claudio Bagano stresses that strict adherence of the officers, workforce and members to the cooperative principles passed on by the pioneers namely honesty, integrity, hard work and volunteerism spelled the difference for the TAMPCO.
Bagano informed that up to the early 80s, the workers of the cooperative did not get any compensation for their labors.**Estanislao Albano, Jr.
