PHCCI Coffee Table Book

Audit Program which was intended to help the cooperative’s financial management system.
Looking back at her stint with PHCCI, she says, “Serving PHCCI was a wonderful experience and an affair to remember in
my lifetime. It was a great opportunity to lead an organization that aims to help the community and, an instrument of its member-
owners in attaining a sustainable life.”

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“PHCCI Chairmanship is both a privilege
and a responsibility.”

This is Leo Dumpang Camposano’s philosophy behind a sound PHCCI leadership that
is anchored on one’s opportunity to be on a position to tangibly actualize the Coop’s vision,
consciously effectuate calculated decisions, and boldly accept accountability.
Mr. Camposano’s voluntary work in the Coop started as a choir member of PHCCI’s
Singing Ambassadors, then as a Youth Director for five years and another three years as a
member of the regular board officers.
His two year
stint as a Chairman is
well remembered by the
strategic solutions he
highly emphasized and
strictly implemented

during conduct of meetings and member gatherings. He believes
that valuing time parallels respect, commitment and efficiency.
Efficiency is a habit, stresses Mr Camposano who shares that
achievement of goals is not only for the smartest and the luckiest
ones but for anybody whose work is carved from the heart and
soul. Competence and productivity are for both the leaders
and subordinates; the former though gets to show how. Hence,
his first year chairmanship, faced with internal system problems
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and leadership struggles, required him with much bravery
and efficiency in action to lead the organization in trust and
transparency. Asked as to what was the most challenging, he
replied with certainty that it was sustaining balance between
firmness and compassion. His commitment to serve PHCCI
helped him pass the first year with grace.
Commitment led him again in shepherding the whole
PHCCI family in the following year. With stability and trust
gained, he continued to work on further tangible causes as
he served his chairmanship for the second year. The strategic
planning resulted to a revised mission, vision, and goals
of PHCCI that are well attuned within the context of the
contemporary time.
To close, Leo shares that his big dream for PHCCI
is for every officer, staff and member to take ownership of
the COOP as if it his/her own, sparing it from inefficiency,
disrespect and betrayal. With emphasis he said, “this can
only be achieved if each and every one will take his/her
required duties and responsibilities by heart. This is the best
manifestation of self-respect and respect for others within
the PHCCI family”. After all, “PHCCI has not only been a
privilege and a responsibility for chairpersons, but to all of us
members who have been helped by the coop in moles and
mountains”, Mr. Camposano concludes.

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“Doing the best is not only for heroes, it is for everyone.
Doing the best when no one is looking means love of

work leading you to graces abundantly within reach”.

This is the mantra of Luista Jocson Quebec who, surprisingly but gratefully,
took the PHCCI chairmanship challenge for 2018-2019. “I can only do so much as
a chairperson; I have nothing except my integrity and love of work which are my
guiding principles to do the right thing even if it doesn’t count as the popular thing”,
she discloses. Given the opportunity to serve the Coop, she consciously puts in
mind that doing the best is not an absolute freedom because accountability is its
significant other; one then must importantly know what to do first.

Louie, as she is more popularly
known in the airwaves and
among friends and colleagues,
entered the hall of PHCCI in
2005 strongly influenced by the
2 great women of her life, her
mother, Ms. Teodora J. Quebec,
a once passionate PHCCI officer
for a number of years and a
lifetime member; and her radio
station manager, Ms. Francisca
S. Custodio, a committed PHCCI
officer and member, too.

As the chairperson, she advocates
that PHCCI is a family. “PHCCI is
OURS so let us take pride in making it the BEST always for us and the community it serves. Like an
integral part of the family, we always wish nothing but the best that it can be, thus PAG-UGOP must
be the core drive for each step we take”, emphasizes Ms. Quebec.

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Faced with an increasing delinquency rate, Ms. Quebec took
this challenge as one of its major work to do with an opportunity
to do her best. She believes that the problem is the accountability
of every officer, staff and member, thus a concerted effort is
needed to arrest the challenge, especially so that the coop is
crossing towards another half of the century. Hence, for every
opportunity of member gatherings, she always stresses that
“PHCCI is OURS” so every small and big collection effort would
do much for the Coop. Individually, religious payment of loan
obligations is the easiest and the best that one can give back to
PHCCI. Collectively, a message relay to or a friendly chat with
our co-members, reminding them to fulfill their membership
obligations, is a solid support to and gratitude for PHCCI. Ms.
Quebec sees these as simple yet emphatic ways to improve the
delinquency rate of the COOP. Above all, she considers such as
very tangible manifestation of member ownership - essentially
PAG-UGOP to its core.

Significantly, she reminds everyone that PHCCI in itself is just a set of five letters; what gives life to the Coop is its gift of persons,
resources and opportunities. She then calls each member to be one of PHCCI’s bone and flesh of disposed leaders and members working
together to give PHCCI a LIFE worthy of emulation. After all, each is accountable for what the Coop will become.

In closing, she calls every member to be a hero of and for PHCCI. “Entrusted with trust and confidence to lead PHCCI is not playing the
hero but the shepherd who awakens the spirit of heroism in every officer, staff and member for PHCCI to champion its vision and mission”,
she says. Ultimately, “I am very certain that each can do so much either with a baby step or a giant leap engraved with a heart of gratitude for
PHCCI”, Ms. Quebec concludes.

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A Responsible Leader

MS. SONIA N. NALDA, must have been singing all along, “I was made for
service ... “

Ms. Sonia N. Nalda joined PHCCI-MPC in 1986 through the prodding of her
friends who were active coop members. In succeeding years, after her stint as the
Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee, she became an officer of the Credit
Committee and Election Committee, besides being one of the PMES facilitators.

She is indeed a workaholic because in spite of her demanding work at the

GSIS, and as the Chairperson of the Supervisory
Committee, now the Audit Committee of PHCCI-
MPC, she had managed it with flying colors!
She’s very thankful to her auditor-friends from
GSIS and COA for mentoring her the ABC’s of
auditing that greatly helped her in the evaluation,
implementation and monitoring of the internal
control system of the coop. Using a number
of standards and proven audit techniques and
procedures, the Audit and Inventory Committee
evaluated the internal control system of the coop
especially the cash collection and disbursement
system and conducted financial compliance audit

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on the various financial
transactions of PHCCI.

During her term
as the Chairperson of the
Supervisory Committee,
she also introduced the use
of pass slip for monitoring
the whereabouts of the
employees of PHCCI. Her
exposure to planning and
budgeting activities at
PHCCI had also helped her

work at the GSIS — a mutual give and take relationship!

When asked to describe her normal working life in the Supervisory Committee,
Ms. Nalda said, “From a busy day in my office, I would go straight to PHCCI to attend
meetings or do surprise cash counts.” Ms. Nalda must have been singing all along, “I was
made for service!”

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A Model Member

“ PHCCI is an alternative development model where money is used to
enhance life and the well-being of its members” says
MS. ERLINDA S. VILLARIN, a PHCCI member for 47 years to date. She
remembered with fondness the day in June, 1971 when she became the 846th
member of PHCCI. She is very proud that she has made an impressive and

effective contributions to the cooperative’s
growth. Within these years, she was chosen
as most regular loan payer and made her
sons model Kiddy Coop members, too!

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Convinced of the PHCCI’s
services and the benefits the
members enjoy and its efforts to
uplift the lives of the members,
she didn’t hesitate to give
voluntary services as an elected
officer. She became a Credit
Committee member from 1980-
1991; then from 1999-2002,
she helped process and approve
loans. She became also a member
of the Supervisory Committee
from 19954997 where she
helped check management
performance, the officers’ accomplishment and
the cooperative status. She also lectured on the
Mechanics of Credit and the PHCCI Lending Policies
and Guidelines. During her lecture, she shares that,
“I tell the members to refrain from the development
paradigm based on profit as it propels materialism
at the expense of others and the members
themselves.”

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60

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“.... the kind of leader that runs the cooperative
is essential to its growth and sustainability”

This expounds the belief of MS. VIRGINIA R. CABOGOY that a good
leader is a good member. Yes, she strongly considers that the success of
any organization highly relies on the intertwined relationship of the leaders
and members working towards a common goal.

Ms. Cabogoy, Mana Binyang, as she is fondly called, was the

Chairperson of the Election Committee of PHCCI-
MPC Tacloban. Before becoming Chairperson, she
recalled that she was just happy to be a member
of the coop and enjoys its services and other
amenities especially during general assemblies.
However, because of her self-assured demeanor
and love for the coop, she was brought to the
ELECOM. Little did she know that she would be
voted upon during the general assembly for the
ELECOM and served as its Chairperson. This deep

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love for the coop also brought Ms. Cabogoy to become the
Pioneer School Principal of the coop’s school, Perpetual
Help Learning Center, serving it until her migration to
the USA. The distance though doesn’t stop her love for
PHCCI for she, together with her children, are still PHCCI
members; her heart and mind are set that she will never
leave PHCCI-MPC.

With her reign as the ELECOM Chairperson, the
election process of the coop progressed into a formal and
professional activity where it was handled by teachers
from the election tellers to the canvassers ushering
the beginning of the modernization process of PHCCI
elections. The changes introduced by Ms. Cabogoy did
not only cover the quality of the election process but,
also focused on the quality of possible leaders through

a policy direction. Coop leaders should have
a personal stake with the coop so that only
the highest of aspirations one can give shall
be the standard. Hence, candidates running
as officers for the coop must have at least
Php 50,000 in fixed deposit before they could
file their Certificate of Candidacy. Unpopular
the policy may have been, probably one of her
biggest challenges, but Ms. Cabogoy stood
firm in her decision stressing that, “The kind
of leader that runs the coop is essential to its
growth and sustainability. “With the right
leaders, PHCCI will continue to be the bastion
that it is now where every member can seek
succor in their time of need.”

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“.... I continue to serve as PMES facilitator
because I find meaning and fulfilment
in helping future members”

An affirmation of MS. LOLITA C. IBAÑEZ’s dedication and love to work
with PHCCI-MPC as a facilitator in the Pre-Membership Education Seminars
(PMES) in the past 40 years. What a record breaking work of love!
Ms. Ibañez joined the PHCCI on November 21, 1983, and since
then she has become an active volunteer in the promotion of the coop’s

services, its goals, and objectives.
She served as the Chairperson of
the Credit Committee which gave
her the opportunity to know
directly from member-borrowers
their financial concerns.
During her stint with the committee, together with the former manager, MR.
NOEL VILLONES, they crafted the “Star Member” scheme to give incentives to members
who pay their loans religiously, attend CA and GA and fulfill their pledged share capital
deposit of Php1,200 as a strategy to arrest the increasing problem on delinquency.
To date, the scheme has worked positively as shown by the increasing number
of Star Members. As the Chairperson of the Election Committee, she institutionalized
the conduct of a Candidate’s Forum. Apart from committee work, she was also at the
forefront of efforts to raise funds for PHCCI projects, like the Search for PHCCI Queen
during the Coop’s Silver Anniversary. The proceeds of the contest were used to purchase
sewing machines for the marginalized PHCCI women-members and instruments for the
San Fernando Elementary School, Tacloban City, where many school children were Kiddy
Coop members.

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As a facilitator, she firmly believes that a well - conducted PMES
is critical in molding the outlook and attitude of a prospective PHCCI
member. It is because of this faith and belief in man’s capacity to be
transformed that she has remained in the coops’ corps of trainors all
these years.
Kudos to MS. LOLITA C. IBANEZ, PHCCI-MPC would always be a
family to her!

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“A friend and an ally in times of need”

In a capsule, this is how MS. FRANCISCA S. CUSTODIO describes her
relationship with PHCCI-MPC!

Ms. Custodio, co-owner of the radio station DYVL and popularly known
especially in the airwaves as, ‘Babes or Ate Babes,” joined PHCCI-MPC, the
premier coop in Eastern Visayas on March 26, 1981 and since then, it has
become her source of redemption — from family basic needs, to getting her
baccalaureate degree, to reestablishing DYVL Aksyon Radyo in Palo, Leyte
after it was badly hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda.



As an officer from 2003-2008, first as Vice-Chairperson
and later as Chairperson of the Education Committee,
she embarked on a special journey, that of establishing
the Perpetual Help Learning Center, which she won
against all odds. Driven by the altruistic characteristic of
PHCCI, Ms. Custodio believes that, “The biggest benefit
and the most meaningful, is being given the privilege
to help man endure by lifting his heart and raising the
standard of life in which the dignity of man is rescued
from the heels of constant poverty through the services
the cooperative gives to its members.” The essence
indeed of cooperative!

In March 2019, the PHCCI-MPC Tacloban

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Academy will have its first batch of Grade 6 graduates.

Babe’s continuing dream for the coop is to see that
all members make every effort to improve the quality of
their lives through collective endeavor, for it is only then
that the oppressive wall of abject poverty can be broken.
Congratulations to a Laureate, MS. FRANCISCA S.
CUSTODIO!

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“And it was this passion to serve people
that was engraved in my mind and heart”

If “footprints in the sand” is for Jesus Christ, MS. RIMA POMIDA’s “mhprints”
is for PHCCI¬MPC -- love that grows from the most unexpected time and place
where many beautiful things really abound in life.

Ms. Pomida’s chance-meeting with PHCCI happened when a classmate-
friend invited her to meet Dir. Advincula, their Literature Instructor for 2 semesters,
who they addressed as Ma’am Jen. She was then a 3rd year Chemical Engineering student from the Eastern Visayas State University
(EVSU) and a staff writer of EVSU’s University Paper, The Industrial Wheel. It turned out that their instructor wanted them to
revive and write for CooPag-urusa, PHCCI’s long¬standing newsletter in a fresh attempt at transparency and self-advertisement.
Without batting an eyelash, she said yes, even though she did not know of what she was getting into. They were also reminded that

everything was all volunteer work, gratis et amore or labor of love, that is,
just the pleasure of seeing their works and names in print.

The COOPag-urusa staff were also present during the historic
declaration of the Coop’s hitting the one-billion mark. We have seen (and
attended some) of the Coop’s numerous awards as one of the outstanding
Cooperatives of the Region (and also nationwide).

To start with, there were 6 of them who got along well as staff
writers of CooPag-urusa who came from the different schools in Tacloban City.
As a staff writer, she had the opportunity to interview and interact with lots
of people at PHCCI — the BOD, employees, volunteers and member-owners.
She had learned much from the coop’s humble beginnings to the opening
of its satellite offices to accommodate the growing number of members, to
the time it applied to become a multi-purpose coop thus, changing its name
to PHCCI-MPC. The CooPag-urusa staff writers were also present during

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the historic declaration of the coop’s hitting the billion mark to document the
proceedings of the program. They had also seen the coop’s numerous awards
as one of the outstanding cooperatives not only in Region VIII but in the country
and even attended some of the award’s night. “I felt so important and so proud
to be a part of such milestones”, Ms. Pomida exclaimed.

Frurthermore, Ms. Pomida shared that what endeared her to PHCCI-
MPC were not these achievements rather, “It was a Coop with a heart to help –
transforming the lives it touches”. Said she, “I have seen the BOD deliberate and
discuss even minute details of everything the coop has to offer to its members.
These people were volunteers who were also full-time employees and parents,
yet their dedication and commitment to the coop never wavered. And it was this
passion to serve people that was engraved in my mind and heart, that one day,
I will find the same passion for something I really want, and that I will also give
it my all.”

PHCCI-MPC imprinted the spirit of volunteerism in me that I will never forget
– that when we do something for others because we feel it in our hearts to and not
expect anything in return – the rewards come ten-fold. And that is PHCCI-MPC to me,
a billionaire Coop with volunteerism and passion at its core.

Very inspiring

indeed, Ms. RIMA

POMIDA, an eye-

witness of PHCCI-

MPC’s golden

heart, a billionaire

coop with

volunteerism at its

core!

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When the wisdom of the old fades and death beckons them,
who shall continue their efforts?

If there aren’t any ready to hold the responsibility,
what good is it to be delivering the best now?

This is a statement of conviction to what the youth could do to perpetuate the legacy of
PHCCI, as exemplified by MS. CRISTETA R. PEDROSA. She believes that for PHCCI to continue
its mission, it needs young blood invigored with hope and ideals of a beautiful tomorrow.
Yes, Cristeta “Tita” Radam Pedrosa greatly believes that PHCCI needs the youth as its
successors and bloodline. She believes much in what young people can do for the coop, more
than what the coop can do for the young. She emphasizes that when the geniuses behind the
success of PHCCI are gone, it’s they who will take the coop further, and thus training them is
never a thing of tomorrow but NOW.
Ms. Pedosa, lovingly called, “Tita, Mana Tita, Mom Tits” , first volunteered in PHCCI as a
Redemptorist youth in the 70s, then as an officer in the succeeding years, and at one point a
member of the ManCOm, but largely the formator of the Coop’s youth.
As a Board of Director
Youth in-charge, she
initiated the establishment
of the Youth Program called Youth Enthusiastic Savers (YES) in 1996 with
the Redemptorist Parish Youth leaders as its core group forerunners. Few
months after, she involved some children of the officers and staff as part of
the growing and active young leaders. She exposed these young people to
a series of workshops and training on leadership, theatre and gender. She
passionately lobbied during board meetings for the youth’s representation
and involvement in many PHCCI activities such as meetings, general
assemblies, planning and evaluation sessions, educational tours, and pre-
membership seminars. She always ascertains that the youth will learn first-
hand from their exposures to actual activities. All these involved a hefty
thousands but she always reminds everyone that spending for the youth is
not an expense but an investment. She proudly shared how fulfilling it was to
see her YES leaders become organic participants to PHCCI institutionalized
activities as volunteer hosts, performers, planners and even implementers.
Tita Pedrosa saw how the dynamics of the young ones and the once young
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works if only to emphasize the perfect blend of the former’s vitality and the latter’s wisdom. Hence,
she boldly exposed these young leaders to the real coop world where they got the opportunity to
rub elbows, spend mid-day sweet and mid-night oils with the best in the cooperative movement.
“Seeing them successful in their respective chosen fields yet grounded and humbled by
their beginnings is my one greatest fulfillment”, says MomTit. She further added that “having
dinner with them even in ordinary days and listening to their recollections of the old times with the
same childlike laughter echoing the night is music to my ears. It seems like yesterday when they
were young and wild but responsible and dependable young people”. Indeed, reaping the fruits of
one’s labor may take years but in due time, a good harvest certainly awaits”, quips MomTit.
As PHCCI celebrates its 50th year, Mom Tit surely could have celebrated this milestone with
her youth had she not join the angels of God so soon. She, together with her siblings Rosing, Aurora
and were one of the first few volunteers of PHCCI. Though she is not one of the founding members,
as her membership counts only for 48 years, she is one of those who sweat blood and tears in
its formative years as early as 1968. As a very close friend and an efficient right-hand of Fr. Flan
Daffy, PHCCI’s founding priest, she took him as her back rider in a single motorcycle as they went
around the remote areas of Tacloban to campaign for PHCCI membership. Fr. Daffy was MomTit’s
greatest influence in believing, discovering and developing the potentials of the youth not only in
Our Mother of Perpetual Help(OMPH) Parish but at PHCCI, too.

MomTit’s love for the youth and PHCCI was evident as she steered and propelled the different youth activities like the revival of
its official newsletter COOPag-urusa, creation of the theatre group and PHCCI Singing Ambassadors, intensive school campaigns for saving
generations, conduct of several education and training activities, and most especially the institution of BOD seats for the Youth. Hence,
any youth who served OMPH and PHCCI from 1969 to the early 2000 if asked who was the wind beneath the wings of the youth group will
certainly have a common answer: “Who else, but MomTit”.


Death may have beckoned her so soon, yet her legacy lives. PHCCI’s
youth program today speaks for her faith on the youth’s capacity and
young wisdom to carry on PHCCI’s vision now and forever.

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“…. from shyness to highness”

Piolo Jahleel Advincula had been a member of the PHCCI-MPC kiddie and
youth enthusiastic savers program since birth. Coming from a cooperative oriented
family, Piolo is a third generation PHCCI-MPC officer where his grandmother Sagrario
Advincula has served the cooperative in various positions and is currently with the
education committee’s facilitators group, while his mother Ma. Jenny Advincula

started with
the coop as a
youth volunteer
and ultimately
represented
the youth in
the board of
directors.

It is no wonder that the son or grandson will embrace the
cooperative existence. Piolo was six years old when he came to know
about the cooperative through the local and national assemblies and
all other activities that her mother would attend.

Formally it was through the summer tutee program conceptualized
by his mother that Piolo actively became part of the cooperative.
Initially, he was enrolled in the dance workshop purposely for him

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to overcome his shyness. The intervention was successful that the succeeding summers led to his enrollment not only in the
dance workshop, speech and drama class but also learning to play musical instruments.
True to the essence of the summer tutee program of the PHCCI MPC from an enrollee Piolo blossomed into a tutor,
where together with his peers they handled the whole summer tutee program of 2018.The culmination program was held at
Robinson’s mall where the proud parents beamed with pride in the different performances of their children.

Outside of the summer tutee program, a whole new
world presented itself to Piolo when he got elected as
chairperson of the PHCCI laboratory cooperative or the
coop lab last year (2017). The exposure led to a deeper
understanding of the calling.
Moving forward from this modest development, Piolo
could only hope that the PHCCI laboratory cooperative
shall continue to be at the frontlines of thriftiness and
savings and also to be an active partner in the different
advocacies for the benefit of the youth. With technology
as an effective platform coupled with proper training and

attitude the PHCCI laboratory coop shall one day be a force
in championing these rights. After all, the cooperative is a
beautiful place with people helping people..

Soar high, MR PIOLO JAHLEEL ADINCULA!

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“Start them young!”

This is an invitation to a challenge which has been proven life-
rewarding by a reluctant Laboratory Coop member, MS. MIKHAELA
NATHASIA Q. RAMOS, who believes that this is the best way to ensure that
the spirit of cooperativism will live on and that the coop movement will not
perish!

Ms. Ramos’ involvement with PHCCI-MPC was not a personal choice
but, a mother’s choice. Barely months after she was born, her mother
opened a Kiddy Savings account under her name. This was to be expected
since her older siblings were either Kiddie or YES members of PHCCI. In
2016, she served as the Second Vice-Chairperson of the Laboratory Coop.
Among the activities of the Laboratory Coop that struck her the most was
helping in the conduct of seminars to young kids on the importance of saving while still young.

As a youth volunteer, she had been actively involved in the Annual Tutee Friendly Summer Growth Program as tutor
for the Hip-Hop Dance in Summer 2016, 2017 and 2018. She stressed that handling young kids is both a challenge and a
responsibility. Said she, “It’s no joke teaching kids as young as 4 years old. I have to be conscious of their moods and whims
and at the same time ensure myself that their interest and enthusiasm would be sustained not only for the day but, up to
the end of the Summer Workshop so that we can present a good performance during the recital.” Serving as a tutor and
trying to pass on her love for Hip-Hop Dance during workshops and watching her tutees perform during recitals are her
motivators to continue as a tutor.

She’s thankful that her mother forced her to be involved in the Laboratory Coop. It has helped her improve her
confidence, widen her network of friends and pave the way to her association with coop leaders. Most importantly, she

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has learned how to plan and conduct events successfully like recitals, meetings and assemblies, an extra bonus earned as
a youth volunteer.

As a living testimony, she knows that while grown-ups may think that children are still young to hold coop
responsibilities, youth empowerment start when they are allowed to constructively play and enjoy. Thus, “with the
persistence and guidance of adult cooperators, a decision to ‘start them young’ is a beautiful seed grown for a productive
reap later”, Ms. Ramos affirms.

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“Volunteers are not paid,
not because they are worthless but,
because they are priceless treasures”

An expression drawn from the heart that is beautifully said by
MS. WENIFREDA G. JARDIN, 80 years old, a Coop Volunteer and an Area
Coordinator of the Perpetual Help Credit Cooperative - Multi-Purpose
Cooperative (PHCCI-MPC) Tacloban!

Ms. Jardin was the first President
of the cooperative’s Area Coordinators.
According to her, the role of an
Area Coordinator is to impart to the
community the main mission of PHCCI-
MPC. And to put how she has taken
the task to heart, she stressed that the
mission of PHCCI-MPC has also become
her mission, - to change the lives of

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people who face different battles in life. Looking
back, Ms. Jardin has this to say: “I’m thankful for
the privilege to be of service to the cooperative,
as no one has ever come to my aid the way like
PHCCI did.” She fondly remembers too, how she
became a member of the PHCCI-MPC in 1977,
that is, to be able to save money. However, fate
had played on her. Her husband widowed her,
leaving the burden of raising their children to
her alone. Thus, she ran to FR. FLAN DAFFY, the
founding father of the coop, who assisted her to
get some help from the coop. The kindness of Fr.
Daffy and the compassion showed by the coop
greatly helped her start the new chapter in the life
of her family. To pay back the immeasurable help
she has received, she became a coop volunteer
since then.

At the age of 80, Ms. Jardin’s commitment
and spirit of volunteerism has remained strong
and so is her wholehearted and meaningful
service to the PHCCI-MPC. Through the years,
Area Coordinators like Ms. Jardin has remained
at the forefront of the volunteer service of the
cooperative in the communities where they serve.

Keep the spirit of volunteerism always
soaring high, MS. WENIFREDA G. JARDIN!

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“Every time I need financial assistance,
the cooperative is there ready to help me”

A humble testimony by a member, DR. MARIA LOURDES R.
GORGONIA, whose encounter with PHCCI-MPC is indeed life-changing!
Dr. Gorgonia became a member of PHCCI-MPC in 1984 through

the invitation of one of the founding members of the
coop, MS. ROSALIA R. PEDROSA. She described that
invitation this way, “It was a beautiful opportunity.”
In 2004, Dr. Gorgonia, together with Dr. Glecy
Ruth G. Militante, started to provide services for the
thousands of PHCCI members, when PHCCI-MPC
decided to provide additional services to its members

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in the form of free medical and dental services.
She saw the invitation as an opportunity to serve
the members, who were grateful for what they
could avail from the cooperative every year.

In 1991, when fire wiped out her private
clinic, the coop was her lifebuoy that helped
her rise up and start anew her private practice.
Because of the compassion extended to her by
PHCCI, by allowing her medical practice at the
coop’s premises. She would forever be grateful as
her son is now a full-pledged doctor. In gratitude
for coming to her succor at her most trying times,
she has remained a partner of PHCCI-MPC in
the provision of medical services to its members
all through these years. Dr. Gorgonia is indeed
grateful to the coop and would like to extend her
felicitations to PHCCI-MPC, especially the pioneers,
its former officers and the present Board, whose
vision and dedication made the coop instrumental
in changing the lives of thousands in Region VIII.

May the joy of serving others as you do
it embrace more coop members, DR. MARIA
LOURDES R. GORGONIA!

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“Lending is the bread and butter of the cooperative.
Partnered with good collection strategy
and good people on the ground,
good business will follow”

This is the driving force that catapulted MR. MARK
ANTHONY P. ORIAS, as the outstanding Collector in 2008 by
hitting the quota in collection and for his exemplary performance!

Mr. Orias was a loan collector of PHCCI MPC for 12 years,
and is now serving as the OIC Satellite head of the Borongan
Satellite office in Borongan City. Mr. Orias is a model member-
employee to be reckoned with. As an employee, he embraced
the value of cooperativism. He encouraged his friends to be part
of the growing family of PHCCI and had instilled in them the value
and relevance of a coop in a community. As a loan collector, he
built good relations and camaraderie among the members in the
area where he was assigned, a strategy he employed to encourage
the members to pay their loan obligations on time. Bringing him
the distinction of being a best collector of the cooperative. As a
member, he patronizes the coop’s various products and services.
“PHCCI is our family partner and it is where we run to when we have financial inadequacies,” said Mark with pride
and high regard for the coop.

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His dedication, commitment and
love for the coop are beyond measure.
These values will surely earn for him more
success and financial rewards as the OIC
that will greatly have an impact on the lives
of PHCCI-MPC’s members in Borongan
City.
More Power, MR. MARK ANTHONY
P. ORIAS!

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“Managing is not about acting out a part,
it is about being authentic
with the people you serve”

The star that guides the management style of MR. NOEL P. VILLONES,
Branch Manager of PHCCI-MPC, Alang-alang Branch from June, 2005-March,
2015!

Mr. Villones formally assumed the managerial seat in June 2005. He ran
the affairs of
the coop with a
compassionate
heart, with
empathy and modelled respect to his subordinates. Once seated as
the manager, he immediately embarked on winning the trust and
respect of his employees to give him a chance to work with them
closely in order to improve the branch’s performance and ultimately,
build its reputation. The morale was so high that everybody was
encouraged to speak up their minds and to showcase their talents,
skills and capabilities. It’s no wonder that the PHCCI-MPC Alang-
alang Branch holds the distinction as among the big branches of
PHCCI-MPC Tacloban in terms of assets, membership and services.

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Asked how he would describe his experience
with PHCCI-MPC, he said, “I have witnessed for
30 years how we have collectively transformed
losses to tosses, pains to gains, jeers to cheers in
the same manner that PHCCI-MPC Alang-alang
Branch had experienced during its infancy stage.”
How it influenced him, he said, “Indeed, I can say
that the coop really mold, nurtured and developed
my personality and behavioral patterns that I’m
reaping now with my new work that emphasizes
social development.”
What a feat, MR. NOEL P. VILLONES!

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“Building a Christian community must be
complimented with a program that would improve

the livelihood of the people as well.”

This is how Rev. Fr. Emy Maningo, C.Ss.R, one of the
pioneering priest-members of PHCCI, envisions PHCCI as a Christian
community. He is the only Filipino Redemptorist priest who has
officially registered himself as a member of the cooperative in 1969.

Only 25 years old then, he was assigned in Tacloban on his

Redemptorist Youth Club with Fr. Maningo taken at the fifth month as a newly-ordained priest. He arrived at a time
Pedrosa’s Residence, Independencia, Tacloban City in May 1969. when the Redemptorist community in Tacloban was crafting
a program to help the poor, as a response to the 1967 needs
84 assessment survey of the parish.

Cooperativism was a popular movement at that time. He
shared that the Redemptorist Fathers envisioned the building of
a cooperative as a community-based structure, with formative
education on Christian community principles and a religious
dimension.

He recalls that his participation in the early phase of

PHCCI’s development was to celebrate masses together with parish-based
Basic Ecclesial Communities, which would include film showing on principles
of cooperativism.

“Building a Christian community must be complemented with a
program that would improve the livelihood of the people as well, ”he said.

During his time when the coop was still in its infancy, he would take
delight in spending his free time observing how the coop was growing. One
of his most unforgettable moments was feeling the joy every time farmers,
straight from the farm, would arrive at the coop office and deposit their
daily savings. He would always look forward to that routine every afternoon.

This habit of setting aside a part of the member’s daily income built
a strong community of savers. The credit union grew in numbers and took
off very successfully because according to him, there is strength in having a
community-based organization with active members serving in the chapel.

Through time, he saw the coop spring up as a partner for the poor.
When he left Tacloban for another assignment, he witnessed its growth as
a solid pro-poor organization.

Even after his parish assignment, Fr. Emy has occasionally visited
Tacloban and every visit includes a desire for an update about the progress
that PHCCI has made. He wishes that from the initial Php10.00 membership
capital before, to the billionaire coop it has become now, PHCCI will continue
its mission to serve the needy and to work together with the community,
from which it was founded.

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“Love and faith”

A kind of love that has withstood the test of time, not even indifference and
rejection experienced from the coop in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda,
could deter the resolve of MS. CARMELITA DACUT to stay with PHCCI¬ MPC!

Ms. Dacut, Miling to family and friends, considers PHCCI her second home.
After all, she has been a volunteer in the coop for almost 37 years. She was officially
a member of the coop in 1981, but the first time she served it was actually when she
was barely in her twenties. She recalled Redemptorist Fathers, FR. EMY MANINGO
and FR. FLAN DAFFY picked her up from home to take her to Marasbaras, San Jose,
Calanipawan, Utap, Apitong and Sagkahan to recruit new coop members. “It was
voluntary work and no snacks were provided. I would go home hungry but happy,”
confided Ms. Dacut. Aside from visiting different areas, she would take part in plays
at the Redemptorist Church during fiesta celebrations. “The shows portrayed a poor
family that was convinced to join PHCCI, learned the value of savings, availed of
loan services and opened a little business, and in the end became financially
successful. In short, the plays depicted how the coop changed the life
of a family,” she recounted. She realized how ironic it was that she was
convincing other people to join PHCCI but, she herself was not a member. “It
was because of financial problems. At that time, my net take home pay was
only Php212.00. My family depended so much on my salary for basic needs
since my father died when I was an elementary pupil.” When she finally
became a member of the coop, she availed of its loan services to finance
her studies in Cebu City, including her postgraduate studies. She remained
active in the coop even when she became a DepEd District Supervisor. She
served in various capacities as Director, Credit Committee Chairperson,
Election Committee Member, Education Committee’s PMES facilitator, and
was a Vice Chairperson for a time. Now a retiree, she remains active in the

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coop and is Secretary to the Information Committee of Alternative to Termination (ICAT),
while still serving as facilitator of PMES.

When Super Typhoon Yolanda came overwhelming the people of Leyte with its
might, Ms. Dacut almost became a casualty in the storm surge as she would cling only to a
nail for dear life, while staying afloat from the deep murky water that surged. She recalled
how in the early morning of that fateful Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, she and her husband, Jose,
scrambled to climb up a wall when water rushed into their house and rose in just a blink
of an eye. In its aftermath, she remembered walking dazed and barefoot to look for food;
how she wore the same clothes for days until a good Samaritan from the PHCCI BOD gave
her the much needed clothing items. She remembered too with bitterness, how the coop
Manager gave her a message from the BOD to vacate the room in the premises of the
PHLC that she and her husband were using as sleeping quarters when their house was still
being repaired. “I felt hurt and abandoned by the people at PHCCI which I have served for
years,” she said, with pain and disappointment etched on her face as she recalled the past.
Although this ill feeling lingered for years, she has opted to move on and stayed with PHCCI
without any doubt in the name of love for it and the faith in the institution that had long
been a part of her life.

We salute you, MS. CARMELITA L. DACUT, for your love and faith in PHCCI-MPC!

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An Epitome of a Homegrown Coop Leader

Success is measured by the amount of time and talent one devotes to reach
a goal, and MS. JENNY ADVINCULA, has proven these time-tested qualities to work
effectively for her!

Ms. Advincula has been a member of PHCCI-MPC for 30 years that began when
she was just 10 years old as one of the pioneer members of the Kiddy Koop that gave her
the opportunity to attend general assemblies for kids. At the age of 17, together with
the children of some officers, she became a member of the core group of the PHCCI
Youth Program composed of Redemptorist Parish Youth conceived by MS. CRISTETA
R. PEDROSA, then BOD Director for Youth. She was given the chance to attend various
coop-related activities such as Leadership Trainings, Coop Assemblies, Ownership

Meetings and other
coop activities, not
only in Philippines but
also in Sri Lanka and Korea. It was also during this time that the
Youth Core Group had revived the Pag-urusa, the Official Newsletter
of PHCCI published monthly in 1998. As member of the first Youth
Enthusiastic Savers (YES), she joined in conducting school campaigns
to encourage students to save and join the coop through YES. As an
OJT at the age of 20, she organized the whole summer youth activities
such as camping, leadership trainings, writing seminars and youth
contests such as song interpretation and dance competition.

With this long list of achievements and experiences, she won
a seat in the BOD for Youth. As the director, she initiated various
youth-related programs such as the Tutee Friendly Summer Growth
Program, Annual Coop Sportsfest, the revival of the newsletter, Pag-

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urusa, renamed COOPag-urusa, COOPLab, COOPLab Unit/Office, besides
organizing seminars and workshops. As member of the HR Committee, she
spearheaded the writing of the PHCCI HR Policy Manual that contained
the Code for Disciplinary Rules and Regulations and the Head Office
Organizational Structure. With the IT and Research Committee, she was
in-charge of the Migration Project. She also had conducted surveys on
members-owners on how to further improve PHCCI services.
When asked about her contribution to the growth of PHCCI-MPC, Ms.
Advincula said that, “Time and talent - fulfill my tasks/responsibilities as the
Chairperson/Member in all the committees I handled.” Indeed, her talent
and dedication
have helped push
PHCCI-MPC into a new light for
another 50 years and beyond.
With your innovative ideas,
MS. JENNY ADVINCULA, let a
thousand flowers bloom in the
garden of PHCCI-MPC!

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“PHCCI will always be my dependable
ally in my walk with life”

This is how MS. SHERALYN SHERA C. MAROTO, describes her exaltation
as a loyal member of PHCCI-MPC that has helped her reach her dreams as
an entrepreneur!

Ms. Maroto became a member of
PHCCI in November 1998 with Php1,500.00
as her capital share. Since then, she has
maintained her status as a member in good
standing with the cooperative for the past
20 years. As an affirmation to her rewarding
experience with PHCCI, her 3 children have
long been members of Kiddie Coop and she
has not stopped in encouraging her relatives
and friends to become members as well.

As a budding entrepreneur, she
applied her first regular loan on April 18,

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Today, her family is maintaining 2002 amounting to Php33,000.00. From the proceeds of
3 branches of their bakeries in Bislig, her loan, she and her husband Raul, started a small Siopao
Tanauan, Leyte and Jaro, Leyte. A mini business and a Sari-sari store. Two years later, their first dream
grocery is also keeping her and her bakery was opened in Bislig, Tanauan, Leyte, using traditional
husband busy. As fruit of her labor, equipment made of bamboo and wooden planks. In 2012,
her eldest daughter is now a graduate she was awarded as Best Micro-Entrepreneur by the Tanauan
in Pharmacy at the University of LGU, in recognition of her invaluable services of conducting
Southern Philippines in Cebu City. baking and cooking lessons for would-be entrepreneurs in the
town of Tanauan. In 2013, all her efforts were brought to
Carry on, MS. SHERALYN SHERA naught with the super typhoon which damaged her bakery
C. MAROTO! business. Armed with the determination that even the wrath
of Super Typhoon Yolanda could not break, Ms. Maroto rose
above the ruins brought by the calamity and again started her
business from scratch with the help of PHCCI. She applied for
a calamity loan in the amount of Php20,000.00 to start anew
her business and the rest is history.

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“Congratulations to PHCCI-MPC
on its 50th Founding Anniversary!
Continue to believe in the underdogs and more power”

A call to the hand that held MS. CATHERINE A. CAMINADE to rise again,
after their family business, Tres Niñas, was turned into pieces by the mighty
storm, Yolanda!



Tres Niñas was founded in 1969. It started
as a small business with only a handful of
employees together with the owners doing
themselves the main work. As years went by,
the homespun business started to grow —
from a handful of employees, it became 40
employees; from 1 computer and 1 desktop
printer, it had increased to more than a dozen
computers and machines weighing from 2 lbs.

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to 2 tons. For more than 15 years, it became a brand name in Tacloban City. But, all these was laid to naught when Super
Typhoon Yolanda struck that left an unprecedented damage to both lives and properties. Years of hard work, the capital,
machines, papers, all gone, brought by the 12 feet murky seawater flood that swallowed the shop.

“Everything will be all right. It will all work out fine. We’ve started from scratch before. We can do this,” narrated
Ms. Caminade, as their expressions of hope repeatedly said to give them courage and strength to move forward. She
continued, “But it was, as always, easier said than done. It wasn’t easy to get back on our feet again when there was no
support to hold on to. Whatever money was left was not enough capital to recreate the once proud business establishment
that we were, and banks were reluctant to loan money when we had no asset to secure it.”

PHCCI-MPC, Ms. Caminade
said, listened to them when no one
else would and rescued them from
the misery they were in. It agreed
to give them a loan and became a
stepping stone for them to reclaim
the proud name they once had. Five
years later, they have claimed back
their mark. Tres Niñas post Yolanda
is just as capable and excellent
and their work of superior quality
service have remained!

Kudos to PHCCI-MPC, for
being a blessing to MS. CATHERINE
A. CAMINADE!

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“Trust takes years to build,
seconds to break and forever to repair”

What a beautiful saying! A realization learned from doing
what one says, beautifully phrased by MS. JENNIFER AVILA, a Hall
of Fame Star Member of PHCCI-MPC Tacloban!

Ms. Avila joined the coop in 2002 and since then, she has
patronized its products and services. She was a typhoon Yolanda
survivor and just like other victims of this catastrophe, she lost
properties and businesses. Nothing was left for her including her
boarding house business which was totally damaged. However,
she kept her optimism alive and had remained resilient which
gave her strength to rebuild what was taken from her. And where
did she turn to?

PHCCI-MPC answered her call for financial aid. She availed of its loan products and slowly started a small
business to sustain the needs of her family. According to her, “PHCCI shows care to me and it is right and just to
return the favor.Obligation is obligation. PHCCI trusted me and I don’t want to break it. Being a Star member is just
a consolation and it is nothing compared to the benefits and help that I am getting from the coop.” So, despite the
many financial struggles Ms. Avila had stumbled on, her responsibilities with the coop has been her priority.

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Ms. Avila always finds ways to pay her obligations
to sustain her Star membership status because she does
not want that the coop’s trust that she gained will just be
wasted.

Hail, to a responsible and role-model PHCCI
member, MS. JENNIFER AVILA!

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“More than anything, borne from a sad experience as she was left high and dry
I would like to bequeath the by a business partner, ignited a flicker of hope and blazed
PHCCI-MPC consciousness into what is today her trucking and delivery business,
livestock and computer shop, where she is serving not
to my family!” just her family but, the community as well. Because of
these, her children and grandchildren became members
The legacy that MS. FELISA CINCO would like her family to of PHCCI. Through her insistence also, her nephews and
inherit from brought about by her multifarious experiences with nieces from both paternal and maternal sides of her family
PHCCI-MPC! became members of the coop.
Ms. Cinco, fondly called as Mana Felisa, became a member
of PHCCI in 1999 and since then, it has become a bastion of Moreover, it is also important for Ms. Cinco that
strength and hope for her. Her initial loan of Php30,000, although her family is fully aware of the good things that is PHCCI-
MPC, after all, the money used to finance her children’s
96 education could be said to have come from the coop. All

of her children are professionals — 2 are members
of the PNP, a Pharmacist, a Nurse and a Business
Management graduate.

One of her endearing experiences with
PHCCI as her family, was when typhoon Yolanda
struck and devastated Tanauan, Leyte. However,
for Mana Felisa, hope never waned because she
drew strength from the coop. As she said, “Basta la
makahirani han PHCCI, (as long as I could be near
with PHCCI) this family will survive!” True enough,
for a loan assistance of Php40,000, 10 transient
rooms were built and have continued to provide
the family with a good source of income until
today.

Cheers to the family heirloom of MS. FELISA
CINCO!

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“I wholeheartedly thank PHCCI-MPC
for being a dependable partner ...”

An inspiring commentary from MS. NENITA G. SABALLA, whose
partnership with PHCCI¬MPC made her sons professionals!
Before Ms. Saballa became a member of PHCCI-MPC Tanauan Satellite
Office in 2012, she lost both her husband and her eldest son, the breadwinners

of her family. Her loss had been aggravated when Super
Typhoon Yolanda hit Tanauan, Leyte, badly in 2013 and
destroyed some of her properties and other sources of
income.
Luckily, one of her friends introduced her to
PHCCI-MPC and seeing the benefits and services

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it offers, she decided to become a member. Thereafter, during the times of
financial needs and being helpless in some situations, the coop has become
her dependable partner. Closest to her heart among this experience was
the fact that through the loan services of PHCCI MPC five of her sons were
able to graduate from college in prestigious private school in our area. The
partnership continues, and right now one of her sons is employed with the
PHCCI Abuyog Satellite office. Outside of the credit facilities of PHCCI MPC Ms.
Saballa is also grateful of the other social services of the cooperative such as
the coopagtutulungan and the medical and dental programs.

Ms. Saballa would only say, “I wholeheartedly thank PHCCI MPC for
being a dependable
partner especially during
the times of my financial
needs” in gratitude to the
cooperative.

Congratulations,
MS. NENITA G. SABALLA,
for being a hero to your
children and keeping your
faith high in investing for
their education for life
with PHCCI!

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“To me, travelling is a way of life ..
sharing skills and changing lives”

A reaffirmation by MS. MARILOU PARINA, that our wander
lust opens perspectives in life and the world around us!
Her previous travels abroad as NATCCO delegate and
volunteer-consultant of NGO-INGO-VSO in Papua New Guinea from January-
February, 2011 as Gender Advisor and in Indonesia, as Management Advisor,
in 2006-2007, were perks of the job and needless to say very enriching and for
free. But her latest travel overseas was personal, that is, when she attended
the 21st ISPCAN (International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and
Neglect) World Congress in Canada, as part of her advocacy for women and
children.
To Ms. Parina, visiting places, meeting people of different cultural
orientations and exchanging pleasantries with them make us wonder how
small our world is! As the song goes, “I got the whole world in my hand!”
However, she said, to travel extensively, it needs resources and good health.
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