TABUK CITY, KALINGA – The Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (SIPAG) slated to award the Tabuk Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (TAFAMULCO) as one of the Top 20 Most Outstanding Community Enterprises in the Philippines.
Villar (SIPAG) is a non-profit organization led by former Senate President Manny Villar, Senator Cynthia Villar, and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar that recognizes enterprises for their significant contribution to alleviating poverty in their communities through the Villar SIPAG Awards on Poverty Reduction.
TAFAMULCO Chief Executive Officer Emilio Dulnuan expressed his elation over the recognition. “We are very happy to be given this award. This is a legacy of TAFAMULCO, which we hope future leaders of our cooperative will continue in order to service more Kalinga farmers,” he said.
Dulnuan also expressed his gratitude for the support and assistance extended by the Provincial Cooperative and Economic Development Office (PCEDO) headed by Arlene Oyando. “We are grateful to them. They’re the ones who encouraged us to pursue this award,” he said.
The Villar SIPAG Awards on Poverty Reduction picks the outstanding enterprises in the Philippines based on five criteria: effectiveness, significance, financial viability, and adaptability.
Based on documents obtained from TAFAMULCO, the cooperative has a total share capital of P107 million with 6,267 members as of 2016. It has P128 million in Accumulated Savings and Time Deposits.
In order to build sustainability, the cooperative allocates 10% of its net surplus every end of the year for reserve fund, 10% for education and training funds, 3% for community development fund, 3.5% for retirement fund, 3.5% for land and building, and 70% for its members’ interest on share capital and patronage refund.
Dulnuan said that TAFAMULCO alleviated poverty in Kalinga by paving the way to the eradication of loan sharks. “Imagine, farmers used to borrow money from loan sharks with 20% interest every month. Either that or they would pay four cavans of palay as interest for every P1,000 they borrowed every four months. With the establishment of cooperatives like TAFAMULCO, borrowers can pay as low as 1.25% interest per month. Because of this, we were able to steer away farmers from loan sharks,” he explained.
“TAFAMULCO started in 1985 as a mere association of farmers with only P10.00 as membership fee. We have come a long way since then. We have helped a lot of farmers in our 32 years as a cooperative,” Dulnuan said.
TAFAMULCO has two branches in the province. It is currently looking to expand its business to Mallig, Isabela and is considering opening its membership to non-farmers according to Dulnuan.
Treasure Link Cooperative in Mountain Province joins TAFAMULCO as the only cooperatives in the Cordillera region to be recognized by the 2017 Villar SIPAG Awards for Poverty Reduction.
The winning cooperatives were given P250,000 cash incentive and will be receiving a trophy during the awarding ceremony on December 12 in Metro Manila.
By Iryll Sicnao
