TAGUM COOPERATIVE, a multi-billion peso cooperative based in Davao del Norte, turns 50 years old today, October 13, 2017. This is part of its amazing story.
Tagum Cooperative (TC) was established in 1967 as the Holy Name Society (HNS), a Catholic lay organization in Tagum Parish. The first co-op members were the 38 HNS members, with a starting capital of P80.00 in which four of the members had each paid P20.00.
On October 13, 1968 a “Special General Assembly” was held wherein the Holy Name Society changed its name to Tagum Community Cooperative Credit Union, Inc. (TCCUI) and adopted a formal charter for the first time. The name change reflected its expansion of membership from that of the parish to Tagum’s whole community.
The way to success has never been easy as struggles for power, gender equality and corruption haunted the cooperative. Delinquency rate rose to 68% and there was massive withdrawal of members. But with God’s grace, an immense cleansing and transformation of its dedicated officials, Tagum Cooperative was revived and has now been a steward of the cooperative movement.
Fifty years later, Tagum Cooperative is a multi-billionaire cooperative with “from womb to tomb” services anchored on 4 business lines – Saving and Credit Group (SCG), Member Benefit and Assistance (MBA), Funecare and Ancillary Services. It serves over 135,000 members and users from the Provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Compostella Valley, Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte.
TC has proved its stability thru good governance and strict adherence to prudential financial standards as evidenced by its increasing assets of P 5 Billion plus and low delinquency rate of 5.51%. TC ensures that officers, employees and members are educated on significant cooperative matters. The community also benefits thru the various developmental initiatives for health, livelihood, education and the environment which are sustained through the years. All these endeavors are made possible thru the Cooperative Education and Training Fund (CETF) and the Community Development Fund (CDF) allocations from the Net Surplus generated for the year.
Thru relentless perseverance and commitment in complying with the stringent standards on Financial, Customer-Member, Internal Business Processes and Learning and Growth perspectives, the Cooperative has achieved multifarious local, national and international recognitions. These include the A-1 Competitive Choice for Excellence in Service and Soundness (ACCESS) Silver Accreditation, Finance Organizations achieving Certified Credit Union Standards (FOCCUS) Platinum Award, Villar Sipag Awards for Social Enterprises and Galing Pook Citizenship Award. Tagum Cooperative is a Hall of Fame Awardee for the CDA Gawad Parangal Most Outstanding Cooperative – Large Scale Category.
Welcoming a new era of sustainability and prosperity, Tagum Cooperative will continue living its vision of becoming the icon of trust and excellence in social and financial services. Indeed, Tagum Cooperative is “where people invest their trust”.
