A new day for the RCO VIII Finance Cooperatives Cluster unfolded on October 31, 2023, as the newly installed CDA Board of Director, Assistant Secretary Luz H. Yringco led a blended Face-to-Face and Online meeting at the CDA Regional Office VIII and via Zoom. The RCO VIII Finance Cooperatives Cluster Focal Section, the CDA RO VIII’s Supervision and Examination Section (SES) headed by Senior CDS, Mr. Mark B. Mapanao, readily paved the way to organize this meeting to assist Asec. Yringco as she took a step forward to lead for the continued betterment of the cluster.

Starting afresh, this first meeting with ASec. Yringco as the overall Head, carried out at 9  a.m. alongside the new RCO VIII Finance Cooperatives Cluster President, Dr. Nelson D. Bernardo of Perpetual Help Multipurpose Cooperative (PHCCI-MPC Tacloban). Dr. Bernardo welcomed all the twenty (20) officers and representatives of the member cooperatives of the cluster with his warm message for unity and cooperation. He guaranteed his support and cheered for Asec. Yringco as she advances towards achieving her goal to do more and further strengthen the cooperative movement. All have truly conveyed positively their support by participating in the meeting. Asec. Yringco gave a strong message of encouragement and leadership as she highlighted that the Finance Cluster cuts across all other clusters as it serves as the key driver for all the cooperative services. She spoke about the three (3) P’s that the cooperative sector is now involved in: (1) improving People’s lives, (2) taking care of the Planet, and (3) Prosperity for both the members and the institution. She further attested that these cannot be achieved without the earnest efforts of all in the sector. Asec. Yringco hopes that the coop sector will become more participative and be cohesive as a cluster.

The meeting showed that the CDA and the cooperative sector will continue to be up and running in bridging the gap between the standards and the actual settings in the cooperatives. Bottomline, the best interest of the cooperative sector is the foremost impetus of this collaborative hard work. The CDA Region Office VIII, Regional Director, Ms. Venus M. Jornales concluded the meeting with gratitude for Asec. Yringco and Dr. Bernardo’s leadership, as well as the finance coops cooperative members’ participation. She urged everyone to work hand in hand to achieve the common goals to be a sustainable sector in our nation. The meeting ended positively as another productive discussion among the finance coops cluster members. A fresh start indeed under the leadership of Asec. Luz H. Yringco!