By: Demelyne B. Gabales
This is the challenge: “Success is not measured on how many goals you have reached but on how many lives you have touched”. A saying which is so true to the “Movement Mission” of the Commission on Audit Caraga Employees Multi-purpose Cooperative (in short, COA CAREMCO) that goes “All members to enjoy better quality of life”.
From the original 109 members with the coop initial capital of Php 409,100.00 in September 1998, the cooperative now has a total 432 members, with an asset amounting to Php 129, 489, 562.00 (based on AFS CY 2019). A breakthrough, from medium classification to large cooperative (based on asset size) in year 2018 to 2019. After twenty-two (22) years, the cooperative reached the peak of becoming one of the biggest cooperatives in Caraga Region. They just proved that Auditors do have a well-audited, well monitored organization that surely resulted to a well-managed cooperative providing quality lending services to their members.
At present, the cooperative continuously serves its members with outmost dedication and committment. They have different types of lending products such as the Multipurpose Loan, Regular Loan, ATM, Educational Loan, Rice Allowance, Basic Commodity Allowance, Bonus and Cash Gift, Emergency Economic Assistance, Monetization and Other Benefit Loans. They had a maximum loan of Two Million Pesos (Php 2,000,000.00) with 1.2% interest rate per month. With the said income generating ventures, they generated six (6) positions as employment opportunity. These are the Manager, the Bookkeeper, Assistant Bookkeeper, Cashier, Accounting Clerk II and Accounting Clerk I. COA CAREMCO’s commendable Financial Reports shows that lending business is still a promising business venture.
In line with Proclamation of the National Government under the Presidential Decree No. 922 declaring the State of Public Health Emergency, COA CAREMCO abides with the Memorandum issued by the agency in providing moratorium to members on their borrowings. Moreso, they also followed health protocols and complied to safety measures required by the local IATF and the Local Government Unit. They issued PPEs to their employees, ensured signage/notices and cleaning materials in the entrance, disinfection activities as prescribed by the law. Further, they distributed Php 818,000.00 to 409 members as their COVID Assistance, equivalent to Php 2,000 for each member.
The Coop Vision: To provide maximum economic benefits to the members, promote cooperative practices, propagate new ideas in business management, in order to allow the lower income groups to increase their ownership in the wealth of this nation. Aside from the goal to alleviate the economic status of the members, COA CAREMCO also extends annual community services to the Indigent Families in Barangay Villa Kanangga, Butuan City using their Community Development Fund (CDF) in the form of food packs and gifts distributed to said families.
COA CAREMCO was registered with CDA as a cooperative under Registration No. CARA-0600 dated July 21, 1999 and with CIN 101130089. On the same year, it was also registered under the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with TIN 005-527-396-00 dated September 1, 1999. The cooperative was re-registered and was given the Reg. No. 9520-13000163 on October 1, 2009 under the new cooperative law, RA 9520. The cooperative is an affiliate of MASS-SPECC, a coop federation of credit cooperatives.
COA CAREMCO goals are. . . COAble! (Achievable, Doable, Verifiable).
