CBMPC Holds 18th General Assembly and Election

On 23 March 2024, CBMPC held its blended 18th General Assembly (GA) at the CBMPC Office in Pope Pius XII Catholic Center, United Nations Ave., Paco, Manila. Chairperson Rogelio Decal who was then out of the country joined the GA via the Zoom platform, together with the other CBMPC members who did not go to the venue.

After a roll call, General Manager Lydia de Asis, on behalf of the Coop Secretary Evangeline Somera (who was attending via Zoom but experiencing unstable internet connection) declared a quorum. Thereafter, the GA officially began at 1:34 p.m.

Chair Decal delivered his inspiring messages and good news to all. “We are proud to report that we have consistently maintained our status as a centennial cooperative. We have attained this status through the concerted efforts of the board, officers, committee members, management staff and all our regular and associate members. I am eternally grateful to all of you in your unswerving mission of the cooperative. It has been our quest to deliver the best service to our members. We can say that our lending rates are the lowest in the coop industry. This stance truly reflects the coop’s idea of service before profit. This idea has driven us to explore other avenues to enable us to offer loan products that will fully help our members.” 

“The CBMPC had strived to be accredited by the Department of Agriculture (DA) through its Agricultural Credit Policy Council as a lending conduit providing 0% interest rate with a minimal service fee for small agricultural projects of our members; and through DA’s Agricultural Competitiveness Enhanced Fund, so that CBMPC members engaged in Agribusiness can apply for a loan with an interest rate of 6% p.a. CBMPC had also partnered with the Small Business Corporation, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), to provide funds for our member-borrowers engaged in micro, small and medium enterprises thru their Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) Program.” 

These overwhelming news from Chair Decal were just highlights of accomplishments during the past year. The complete Chairperson’s Message is included in the CBMPC’s 2023 Annual Report.

The Business Part of the GA was started with the reading of the Agenda, followed by the approval of the Minutes of the previous 17th GA held on 25 March 2023.

In her report, GM de Asis happily announced CBMPC’s accomplishments in 2023 which showed total resources reaching ₱108.72M, a 2.33% increase from P106.24M in 2022. Meaning, CBMPC was able to maintain its centennial status among cooperatives with total assets level of more than ₱100M. Our Net Surplus increased by 13.42% to ₱1.22M from P1.07M in 2022. Share Capital was up by 1.20% from P38.19M in 2022 to P38.65M in 2023. Fantastic growths were noted from our PAL Ticketing Service which generated sales of ₱2.83M, up by 541%, and also from our Service Fees which earned ₱0.12M or 347% better than the previous year. Loan portfolio expanded to P37.87M in 2023 for a significant growth of P2.03M or 5.67%, simultaneous with a decline in past due rate from 11.02% in 2022 to only 9.49% in 2023. GM De Asis also talked, among others, on the established relationship of CBMPC with DA and DTI. At the end, she committed that the automation of CBMPC’s accounting transactions now on parallel run with the manual booking in the Excel system will go live by June 2024.

Treasurer Emily Capili reported on the audited Comparative Financial Statements as of 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2022; and subsequently announced that 80% of the Net Surplus less Statutory Funds had been allocated for distribution, as follows: 65% for Interest on Share Capital or a Return on Investment (ROI )of 1.68%; 30% for Patronage Refund or an ROI of 0.73% (for Loans) and 0.47% (for HMO); and 5% for Patronage Incentive or an ROI of 0.12% (for Deposits and Bonds).

The heads or representatives of the various Committees then reported their respective accomplishments in 2023.

All the above reports were accepted by the GA upon motion.

The Development Plan and Budget for 2024 presented by Vice Chair Demetrio Opinion was approved by the GA. Likewise, the GA ratified the Year 2023 and 1st two months of 2024 Board Resolutions, including the hiring of an external auditor, and ratified the proposed amendments to the CBMPC Articles and Bylaws.

A total of 10 + 2 raffle draws were interspersed between major activities, with the following winners of ₱500 each, in alphabetical order: Lamelita Aquino, Aurea Bertulfo, Editha Cabuyao, Leticia Lourdes Camara, Eden Daus, Rogelio Decal, Jose Miguel dela Paz, Shey Fetalvero, Neriza Laparan, and Fe Sandoval. The winners of umbrellas donated by Atty. Mark Darwin Camara were Reymark Estacio and Belinda Llamanzares.

There were four vacant positions in the CBMPC Board open for election. Considering that there were only four candidates, they were all declared winners namely, in alphabetical order: Estela E. Correa, Rogelio G. Decal, Noemi P. dela Paz, and Demetrio R. Opinion. On the other hand, there were no members who filed for candidacy in the Audit Committee (three vacant positions) and in the Election Committee (three vacant positions). Thus, the GA authorized the Board of Directors to appoint three members each for the Audit and Election Committees.

The GA was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. after the closing prayers led by Cherry Ann Cruz.