FSCC Joins the BCCDC's Annual General Council Meeting

FlorAl Savings & Credit Cooperative (FSCC) joins the Baguio City Cooperative Development Council's (BCCDC) annual general council meeting on December 11, 2018 at the Baguio-Benguet Community Credit Cooperative (BBCCC) Seminar Hall, Assumption Road, Baguio City. This annual general council meeting was participated by twenty-four (24) other registered cooperatives at the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

One of the highlights of the said meeting was the election of BCCDC's officers for 2019. The Audit Committee Chairperson of FSCC, Martin B. Papay Jr. was elected as a member of the Election Committee along with Ms. Venus Britanico, Chairperson of San Luis Proper Credit Cooperative and Ms. Jane A. Galutan, General Manager of the Guisad Multi-Purpose Cooperative as the Election Committee's Chairperson and Secretary.

Mr. Oscar Adversalo, Chairperson of the BBCCC was re-elected as the Chairperson of BCCDC. Other re-elected officers include Mr. Ruperto Ferrer Jr. with twelve (12) votes for the position of Vice-chairperson, Ms. Ofelia Valencia as the Secretary, Ms. Brenda Navalta as the Treasurer and Mr. Joseph Del Rosario with fifteen (15) votes for the position of Auditor.

Other nominated representatives from the participating cooperatives include Jhumar Guimpayan and Bernard Briones for the position of Vice Chairperson with nine (9) and four (4) votes respectively. On the other hand, Ms. Mina Castro was also nominated for the position of Auditor with ten (10) votes.

Based from the BCCDC's election guidelines, all cooperatives' chairperson are automatically qualified to be nominated and elected as Chairperson while cooperative's representative other than the Chairperson may be nominated and elected for the positions from Vice-chairperson down to the Auditor by virtue of coop's board resolution. Other coop representative without board resolution during the election may also signify their intent to be nominated and elected for the positions of Auditor to the Vice-chairperson provided that such resolution will be submitted after the election.

Also, during the said meeting, the BDCCDC's accomplishment report was presented by its Chairperson, Mr. Adversalo and the Financial Report was presented by its Auditor, Mr.  Del Rosario.

FSCC Attends Forum on the Proposed Creation of Cooperative Bank of Baguio

         On December 4, 2018, BOD member Rebecca Cynthia B. Batong and Audit Committee Chairperson Martin B. Papay Jr. attended the Forum on the Proposed Creation of Cooperative Bank of Baguio at the Multipurpose Hall of the City Government of Baguio as FSCC’s representatives. The said forum was an initiative of the City Government of Baguio in partnership with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

          Ms. Amelita B. Damian, Bank Officer V of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Mr. Miguel P. Luma-ang, Chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Benguet, and Rev. Fr. Charleston L. Buking, Chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Mountain Province served as resource persons.

          Ms. Damian presented the current performance of cooperative banks in the country, the relevance and definition of a cooperative bank, its difference from rural banks, requirements on its establishment, relevant regulations, and issues and challenges faced by cooperative banks.

          Accordingly, there are a total of twenty-five (25) Cooperative Bank Head Offices in the country of which fifteen (15) are in Luzon and five (5) each in Visayas and Mindanao. There are one hundred thirty-one (131) cooperative bank branches for a total of one hundred fifty-six (156) cooperative banks nation wide owning 0.1% assets of the Total Assets registered in the Philippine Banking System as of June 30, 2018.

          A Cooperative Bank is defined as one organized for the purpose of providing a wide range of financial services to cooperatives and their members. Article 100 of the Republic Act No. 9520 on the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008 provides that "A cooperative bank shall primarily provide financial, banking, and credit services to cooperative organizations and their members".

             The said act further states that a cooperative bank shall be organized only by cooperative organizations that are duly established and registered under the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008. A Cooperative Bank shall be considered as a cooperative that should be registered with the CDA, subject to authorization and supervision of the BSP.

          To create the proposed Cooperative Bank of Baguio, at least five (5) primary cooperatives located in the same location of the proposed head office are needed with at least twenty million (20 M) initial capitalization. BSP allows only one (1) coop bank per province.

          On the other hand, Mr. Luma-ang Rev. Fr. Buking shared their experiences as chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Benguet and Cooperative Bank of Mountain Province respectively in terms of Organization, Capitalization, Operation, and Management.

          In closing, a survey/ questionnaire on the possible establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Baguio was distributed for each participating cooperative to fill-out which should be submitted to the CDA on or before the mid of January 2019. 

The FlorAl Savings and Credit Cooperative Kicks Off its Operations

The FlorAl Savings and Credit Cooperative (FSCC) has finally kicked off its operations on November 10, 2018 through the inauguration of its office at 37 Lower Atab Sto. Tomas Proper, Baguio City, induction of its officers, and the launching of its credit services.

Apart from these events, the first batch of the 3rd Pre-Membership Seminar (PMES) was conducted by the BDO Vice Chairperson and Chairperson for the Training and Education Committee Lea C. Papay to three (3) new member applicants. This was followed by other activities to include a simple thanks giving mass officiated by Pastor Victor Sibayan, the unveiling of the FSCC's cooperative logo led by the Chairperson Catherine B. Puckett with the assistance of the General Manager Valentina B. Abnasan, and the awarding of Share Certificates (SC) to ten (10) members who were able to pay in full their subscriptions. They were Jennelyn M. Acma, Jose B. Buclay, Mary Alice B. Bernal, Robert L. Bernal, Valentina B. Abnasan, Louie Joe C. Banaken, Gladys B. Alcido, Oliver B. Alcido, Dan Gerald A. Salunga, and Dra. Stephanie Joy B. Abnasan.

Mr. Romy Denis of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) who had consistently provided assistance to FSCC since the conduct of the 1st Pre-Registration Seminar (PRS) gave his inspirational message to all the cooperative members and guests present, after which he inducted the elected and appointed officers of FSCC. Mrs. Teresita Guisala also gave her short inspirational message.

As the members and guests enjoyed the sumptuous food prepared for the day, the credit services of FSCC were launched using the systems designed by the Chairperson of the Audit Committee, Martin B. Papay Jr. that were installed to the newly purchased computer of the cooperative. A total of five (5) members availed the credit services of FSCC of which four (4) were granted with Regular/Personal Loan while only one (1) was released with Grocery Loan. The verification of the members' qualifications to borrow were done using the Members' Data Management and Information System (MDMIS), the Loans Management and Information System (LMIS) was used for the processing of the loans, the Cash Management & Information System (CMIS) for the payments and release of the loan proceeds, and the Financial Management & Information System (FMIS) for the recording of the loans processed, paid, and released.

Further, a business meeting was held which was facilitated by the BOD Chairperson to finalize the unfinished business on the deposit services of FSCC. On the said business meeting, it was unanimously agreed that the supplemental deposit services will start on December 1. The Certificate of Time Deposits (CTDs) will be open for FSCC members only with a minimum deposit amount of P10,000.00 to earn an interest of 6% per annum for a term of either 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. It was also unanimously agreed that any CTD withdrawn in less than 50% of its term shall not earn an interest and CTDs withdrawn in more than 50% of its maturity shall be paid 80% of the total computed interest upon pre-termination. Deposits generated from the CTDs will be used for development/ productive loans to qualified members who do not have existing loan obligations upon application. The minimum loanable amount is equivalent the member's Paid-up Share Capital and the maximum loanable amount is up to three (3) times but shall not exceed P150,000.00.

On the other hand, in response to the CDA's advocacy to promote savings among dependents of cooperative members in the country, it was also agreed that a savings deposit shall be offered to the dependents of FSCC members as junior savers. The initial amount to open a savings deposit account is P100.00 and to earn an interest of 1% per annum, the junior savers shall maintain a minimum balance of P500.00.

Finally, to close the said events, a second batch of PMES was given by one of the members of the Training and Education Committee, Dra. Stephanie Joy B. Abnasan. This was participated personally by Heide Yuri B. Dumaran and Mary Alice B. Bernal through a teleconference. As of November 10, 2018, FSCC has forty-two (42) official members with a total subscribed share capital of P1,357,600.00 of which the paid-up share capital is P581,900.00, the total loans released during the launching of its credit services is P57,000.00 with five (5) borrowers. 

The FSCC's Logo

          The cooperative logo was designed by the cooperative Audit Committee Chairperson, Martin B. Papay Jr. with the following interpretations:

1.   The holding hands forming a heart shape signify the binding love of Flora Cagay-an Banaken & Alipio Lacdagan Banaken Sr. which shall be a carried legacy to the 1^st and the next generations to come;
2.   The images of people forming a flower shape represent the eight (8) siblings of the FlorAl Kinfolks along with their children, grand children, great grandchildren, and the next generations to come joining hands together in unity to achieve the goals and objectives of the cooperative;
3.   The rope signifies united members who will benefit from the living legacy of this cooperative;



4.   The corrugations represent small corns to signify flexibility, balance, and stability; 
5.   The white color symbolizes purity, transparency, integrity, and objectivity;
6.   The red color symbolizes love, leadership, and courage; and
7.   The different colors reflect diversity disregarding personal interests.