Aklan IBoN MPC – Giving Millions Credit To Whom Credit Is Due! The 3 Cs Of PH Agriculture

In 2003, they started with a few member-farmers, small capital and big hopes – the Pusiw Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Numancia, Aklan. Total membership 23, capital P4,800. Today, the coop has up to P60 million credit line available! I see it as a village victory via 3 Cs: Clustered Farming, Cooperativism & Credit.

I am reading Sheila Mae H Toreno’s 1,700-word article titled ““Success Story Of Integrated Barangays Of Numancia Multi-Purpose Cooperative” (26 October 2021, Department of Agriculture – Western Visayas), shared on Facebook by Noel Ocampo Reyes, ASec of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Learning from Ms Sheila Mae's report, I see what I now call “The 3 Cs of PH Agriculture” as The 3-in-1 Formula for bringing about sustained progress via shared efforts in Philippine villages.

This is a reflection of the visionary leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, contained in “The ‘New Thinking’ For Agriculture[1]” he came out with 2 months before he was appointed by PRRD as Chief of DA, shared in his Manila Times column of 13 June 2019.

On New Year’s Day, I wrote “Whispering Hope Clustering – Interventions And Assistances Provided By PH DA[2]” (01 Jan 2021, Communication for Development, Blogspot.com). I can happily glean from Ms Sheila Mae’s report, former Land Bank of the Philippines’ cooperative organizer Arnulfo “Pong” Magcope whispering hope to the farmers in barangay Pusiw in Numancia, Aklan “that would shift the mindsets and alleviate the plights of farmers who have long been enduring the economic setbacks in the sector.”

Much inspired, the village coop thrived. It started as a small group with a small capital and registered with the Cooperative Development Authority on 13 March 2003, composed of farm laborers, fishers, house helpers, tricycle drivers, and vendors. On 29 October 2009, it registered under a new name: Integrated Barangays of Numancia Multi-Purpose Cooperative (IBoN MPC), now a highly diversified cooperative, with trading services for farm inputs and products, marketing support to rice growers, and expanding services and operations to other towns of Aklan.

Ms Sheila Mae says:

(Initially), their membership expanded following the success of an equity loan program offered to qualified constituents. (Then) they opened their members' savings operation for both regular and time deposits, leading to a better financial sphere and fostering members' willingness to help fellows in need. To assist more members, the cooperative decided to access financing from (LandBank), and in 2006, the government bank granted them a revolving credit line of P1 Million.

In 2017, IBoN MPC received a grant package from the DA that included a P125-million Rice Processing Center, 550-sqm warehouse, multi-pass rice mill, 26-ton recirculating dryer, and P2-million trading capital to serve over 100-hectares of rice lands in Numancia.

(Today), backed with exemplary records in handling financing and projects, IBoN MPC has up to P60 million credit line available and is a trusted lending conduit of several government financing institutions in Western Visayas.

Bigtime! The small farmers must learn to help themselves, even as the DA helps them.@517

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[1]https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/06/13/business/agribusiness/the-new-thinking-for-agriculture/568614

[2]https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com/2021/01/whispering-hope-clustering.html