TABUK CITY, Kalinga – As it savors the sweet aroma of success, the Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) should set its eyes on increasing its impact on the socioeconomic and political life of the community it serves and on increasing its contributions to human development.
This was the gist of the message of Anglican bishop and outgoing TAMPCO Board Chairman Renato Abibico during the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the coop which coincided with its 39th General Assembly on February 26.
Abibico who was Board chairman of TAMPCO in the last four years recalled that in March 14,1971, the cooperative was organized with 33 members and a total capital of P1,235.00 but that 40 years later, the assets of the cooperative has passed the half billion peso mark at P514,700,346.10 as of the end of 2010.
He commented that “the life story of TAMPCO is a good lesson to us that anything that is sown in wisdom, or anything that is established with good intentions, do merit God’s grace and approval.”
However, Abibico continued that TAMPCO should not rest on its laurels but aim for greater things. Citing Dr. M.M. Coady of Canada, he said that the “ultimate goal of the cooperative is to transform human beings from mere shopkeepers, whose thoughts are only limited to money and material things, into something more lofty, and that is to become creative.”
He said that TAMPCO has already embarked in this direction with the establishment of its training-inn-restaurant center, Pi water refilling and distribution service, the funeral care service and lately, the automatic teller machine (ATM) service all of which, according to him, are creating greater impact on the socioeconomic aspect of the community.
Abibico said that the establishment and operation of these new services of the cooperative are in accord with the principles being advocated by the cooperative movement namely the following: the people are the owners of development; the people are the prime movers of development; the people are the direct beneficiaries of the fruits of development; and democratic space for decision-making.
Referring to the financially rewarding operations of the cooperative in 2010, Abibico urged the members not to just pat themselves on the back but “rather set their eyes to more wonderful things that we could make as cooperative in creating more impacts on the socioeconomic and political life of our society.”
“Our mission is to continue to share in the whole process of development that would bring about abundant life not only for our members but for the wider community as well,” Abibico said.
The present asset figure of TAMPCO represent a growth of P57M from that of the previous year.
Within the same period, the membership of the cooperative also increased by 602 bringing the total members of the cooperative to 9,145.
In the elections conducted during the assembly, directors Josephine Doctor and Jefferson Wandag were reelected while Orlando Banatao, Patricia Abibico, Gilbert Cawis and Eddie Rodriguez were elected. They join incumbent directors Valentina Attolba, Pastor de Jesus, Fr. June Inbentan and Fr. Claudio Bagano.
The budget of the cooperative for 2011 with total revenue and net surplus targets of P58,409,894.83 and P25,108,848.05, respectively, and estimated operating expense of P33,301,046.78 was approved by the General Assembly.
The matter that elicited the most questions during the assembly was the usage of the Community Development Fund (CDF) which is three percent of the net income mandated by law to be set aside for community development purposes.
Abibico had reported that P500,000.00 from the CDF was used for the purchase of a dump truck donated to the Tabuk City LGU for waste disposal purposes while Chief Executive Officer Petra Baguiwen stated in her report that several medical missions were conducted and two entities were assisted using money from the CDF.
Under questioning from the members, Abibico said that the donation of the dump truck to the Tabuk City LGU was not covered by a Memorandum of Agreement as it was only responding to a solicitation letter and Chief Executive Officer Petra Baguiwen revealed the amounts given to the beneficiaries. It was decided that in the future, donations will be covered by MOAs and that the amounts given beneficiaries of the CDF will be stated in reports.**
