Second time’s the charm for Biliran Coop

Cooperatives come and go. This was the bleak reality experienced by some residents of Barangay Lico, Naval, Biliran, who are mostly agrarian reform beneficiaries after their organization’s funds were allegedly lost through the machinations of some its leaders.

It was no wonder, that there was hesitation and skepticism among them when the Department of Agrarian Reform was convincing them to give cooperatives another chance.

Out of gratitude for the farm lots they received, the residents of Barangay Lico obliged. And so, the Lico Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative was reborn on February 21, 2003, with 23 members and a measly capital of P4,600.

Under the leadership of Rebecca V. Payos, the cooperative ventured into lending business.

“We thought then that the best way to win the hearts and minds of our members is to make them feel that their basic needs are taken care of. Since most of them are in need of financial capital for farm inputs, we decided to go for it,” Payos said.

The DAR have already provided orientation seminars aimed at pinpointing the reasons for the collapse of their old cooperative and the ways and means to prevent them from experiencing the same mistakes again.

The group took to heart the DAR’s advice and they themselves were amazed at the way their fledgling business survived the test of time.

Encouraged by their small success, they applied for loan at the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) under the Credit Assistance Program. They managed to maintain a clean bill through their six cycles of loan, a testimony to their excellent financial management.

But their success would mean nothing without a home they could call their own. So, they embarked on building their own office out of their earnings.

In compliance with the Republic Act No. 9520, the cooperative re-registered with the Cooperative Development Authority on October 26, 2009 and renamed itself as Lico Agrarian Reform Cooperative or Larcoop, for short.

By 2012, the cooperative had already generated as much as P504,000, more than a hundred fold of their capital nine years earlier.

But the best has yet to come for Larcoop. It ventured into the Microfinance Innovations in Cooperatives which was being promoted by the National Confederation of Cooperatives (Natcco) together with the DAR.

Larcoop received Natcco’s nod on its second try and became its 56th cooperative nationwide and the first in Eastern Visayas (Region 8). It gained access to the P1-million loan from Natcco, payable for five years at 13-percent interest.

Larcoop used the loan to open a quasi-bank at the downtown area of Naval, the provincial capital of Biliran, which is accessible to their clients and the commercial area.

Bibian Sereño, microfinance operations manager of Larcoop Quasi Bank, says they offer savings deposit, time deposit, kiddie savings deposit, as well as, providential, productive and microfinance loans for its members.

“The idea is to address the financial needs of our cooperative member at very low interest rates because we wanted to maintain that harmonious relationship that we’ve developed through the years,” Sereño says.

Just recently, the Larcoop was chosen as the lead agrarian reform beneficiaries organization that was gifted with farm machineries under the Agrarian Reform Communities Connectivity and Economic Support Services in pursuit of their Rice Productivity Enhancement Project.

From a struggling farmers’ organization, Larcoop has carved a niche for itself.

For Payos, “If at first you stumbled, rise up and give it a try anew. It really pays the second time around, with the right mindset and the right attitude towards financial management.” (By Melecia Ong)

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