safragemc

Recently on SAFRAGEMC...

Did you know?

In 2009, an editorial published in The SAFRAGEMC Bulletin said that for 19 years the cooperative is growing stronger and serving its constituents even better than it did when it first started its operation. Now, 23 years after its conception, SAFRAGEMC remains at the forefront of providing financial security and social services to the people of Caraga. Let us look back at that editorial and see why SAFRAGEMC is still maintaining its commitment as an alternative to commercial banking. Here's why...http://www.safragemc.com/3/post/2012/04/safragemc-growing-stronger-serving-better.html

General Assembly generally successful

SAFRAGEMC members at the General Assembly

THE SAN FRANCISCO Growth Enhancement Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SAFRAGEMC) has recently concluded its 23rd annual General Assembly at the San Francisco Municipal Gymnasium, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur last March 17 with the theme, “We Build Homes. We Develop People”.

In a week long celebration of prices and camaraderie, SAFRAGEMC was able to highlight its achievements as a cooperative for the year 2011, along with the usual giving of dividends and patronage refund.

The celebration formally started with Surigao Branch last March 12, Butuan on March 13, Bayugan on March 14, and Bislig on March 15, with its culmination on March 17, along with the regular members of Micro-Finance in a Representative Assembly at San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

Participants of the Assembly were also given T-shirts and bags as part of the giveaways of the said assembly, and a raffle draw also took place with prices ranging from a rice cooker (third price), stand fan (second price) and a 21-inch colored TV (first price). Ten (10) consolation prices were also given during the said event.

"The people united can never be defeated!"
CEO Frederico A. Blanco

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederico A. Blanco, in his Management Report, said that SAFRAGEMC was able to weather the storm of that economic crisis the country has faced, citing other cooperatives that are no longer in operation. “The people united can never be defeated,” he said, thus urging the many who attended the assembly to unite at all times for the success of their cooperative, SAFRAGEMC.

“Maayong buntag, mga Milyonaryo!” said Board of Directors Chair, Editha A. Apresto, as a reaction to CEO Blanco’s Management Report that the cooperative has earned millions with the help of its members regularly patronizing the services of the cooperative.

SAFRAGEMC also reported its achievements for the year 2011, with the installation of nine housing units at SAFRAGEMC Village (Phase 2), from the concreting of its roads to the construction of its water system; the acquisition of the NHR vehicle, and the on-going construction of the Funecare Building at Brgy. 5, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

The General Assembly is an annual event of SAFRAGEMC where members of the cooperative gather and participate in the deliberation of its plans and programs for the year, while receiving their annual dividends and a chance to win in a raffle draw conducted during the assembly proper. (With reports by Jeric Madelo, Arvin Tampus, Prudence Jamito, Marie Chizza P. Bebal, and Rey N. Antoni)

An Earth-saving SAFRAGEMC

by Jeric Madelo

As soon as the mahogany seeds were planted, members of the staff took some time out and positioned themselves in front of the camera.

"Nurture a Tree, Save Earth," says SAFRAGEMC

IN RESPONSE TO the celebration of the Cooperative Month last October, SAFRAGEMC took a step further in caring for the environment by spearheading a tree-planting and nurturing activity at Mt. Magdiwata Watershed in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, with the theme: “Kooperatiba, Sama-sama sa Pagkandili ng Kalikasan”.

The event kicked off with a motorcade, along with various participating cooperatives in the region, partners from the medical field, the youth sector and a local media of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

The tree-planting activity could not have come at the right time since it coincided with the recent campaigns against illegal mining within the watershed area.

“Kitang tanan nga ani-a karon dri, adunay nagkahi-usang tumong nga protekhan ang maong kina-iyahan para sa uma-abot nga henerasyon...”

usa ka mensahe gikan kang Sir Pedic

And responding to the call of nature and its eventual preservation, planting trees might well be a fitting response for the cooperative in protecting and nurturing the Magdiwata from these mining activities.

“Kitang tanan nga ani-a karon dri, adunay nagkahi-usang tumong nga protekhan ang maong kina-iyahan para sa uma-abot nga henerasyon. Kini usa lamang sa mga lakang para mapaabot nato ang atong dakong pagsupak sa pagguba sa Magdiwata sa pipila kanato,” CEO Mr. Frederico A. Blanco said. (JM)

SAFRAGEMC Village (Phase 2) available now!
More details...

Coop sends New Officers for Good Governance Forum

New Officers, New Challenges

by Arvin Tampus

Some new officers (Board and Committee Members) of the San Francisco Growth Enhancement Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SAFRAGEMC) have recently attended the annual Good Governance and Leadership Seminar at the SAFRAGEMC Coop Livelihood Training Center in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur on April 20-21, 2012.

Aimed at equipping these said officers with some new trends in organizational management, members of the Board of Directors and various Committee officials did participate in its discussions and workshops on how to deal with certain management issues in a cooperative setting.

The new officers were also introduced to the said policies and practices of SAFRAGEMC as part of being new to the cooperative.

Oro Integrated Cooperative Board Chair, Raul M. Pregon, lecturer of the said seminar, said that since he had witnessed the growth of SAFRAGEMC as a cooperative, he considered it a privilege to impart his experiences as a member of a cooperative himself, and once served as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oro Integrated, to the new officers of SAFRAGEMC, sharing them their respective roles and responsibilities as representatives to the cooperative.

The Good Governance and Leadership Seminar is an annual event of SAFRAGEMC, where new officers are introduced to the policies and practices of the cooperative and its reason as member-depositors to one of the leading cooperatives in Mindanao.

New Sets of Officers Inducted for 2012-2013

Immediately after its Good Governance and Leadership Seminar, an induction for the new sets of SAFRAGEMC officers took place, spearheaded by no less than its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Frederico A. Blanco.

Members of the Board of Directors (BOD) include: Editha A. Apresto (Chairman), Panfilo M. Basco (Vice Chairman), Mildred L. Avila, Ma. Salud L. Lagas, Mary Jane A. Cacho, and Danilo Castor, with Mary Grace C. Gloria as Board Secretary.

For the Credit Committee: Ruperto Eva, Teresita Ariño, Elvira Lamanilao, Nelly Gatilogo, Ana Floripes Marquez, and Corazon Lim. For the Mediation and Conciliation Committee: Fe Cebrian, Orlando Sevilla, and Betty Montero. For the Election Committee: Carmelita Rimando, Alejandro Obien, and Ludivina Asis.

For the Education Committee: Corazon Cullantes, Cornelio Estrada, and Virginia Cabarlo. For the Ethics Committee: Rosario Jagonia, Leah Guelos, and Virginia Cuizon. For the Housing Committee: Editha A. Apresto, Frederico A. Blanco, Jovito F. Torrero Jr., and Anna Nueva R. Naparota.

The said new sets of officers were elected and appointed during the cooperative’s annual general assembly. (photo by Jeric Madelo)

Be a member... NOW!

membership_application_form.docx
File Size:	13 kb
File Type:	docx

Download File

CEO Frederico Blanco (left) and Board of Director Chairman Editha Apresto (middle), along with Education Committee Member Cora Cullantes (right) taking a pose amid the ceremonies of the General Assembly last March (photo: DenzPJ)

OD for SAFRAGEMC

OD at work

JUST WHEN YOU think the cooperative is suffering an overdue, officers of SAFRAGEMC (BODs, Committee Members, Managers, Senior Staff) had attended a two-day Organization Development (OD) Workshop by the Land Bank Countryside Development Foundation, Inc. (LCDFI) at the Coop Livelihood Training Center in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

Glenn G. Glarino, resource speaker of the said workshop, said that the need to have an OD program in SAFRAGEMC is crucial to the growth and enhancement of the cooperative.

Working under the premise of “Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice, whether it be in medicine or management,” the participants did manage to discuss and dissect various management concerns to be able to properly diagnose the said problems.

Areas of concern include the Technical, Administrative, Social and Strategic Systems, with each system having a different set of assessment, discussion, implementation and evaluation.

The two-day workshop proved to be so inspiring to the participants that they have decided to include eventually an OD program in their respective offices to understand better the dynamics of a growing institution such as SAFRAGEMC.

Board of Director (BOD) Chairperson, Editha A. Apresto even went to the extent of sharing an anecdote to the said workshop, citing specifically the topics presented in the seminar as stones turning into gold.

CEO Frederico A. Blanco thanked LCDFI through Mr. Glarino in his closing remarks, whom he thought had forgotten the cooperative after their first meeting a couple of years ago, to which LCDFI responded with a workshop that may well be its initial thrust for the continued growth and success SAFRAGEMC as the key cooperative in the region. (With reports by Jeric Madelo, Arvin Tampus and Rey N. Antoni)

SAFRAGEMC
Nabunturan Office

Now open for business!

Located at National Highway,
P-13 Poblacion, Nabunturan Compostela Valley

Come and visit us for membership orientation seminar anytime during office hours

SAFRAGEMC Creates Satellite Offices in 3 Cities

CEO Frederico Blanco addresses crowd during Gingoog City Satellite Office opening.

SAFRAGEMC, in its effort to extend cooperative services to more people especially those who are in the SME category, recently opens satellite offices in three cities in Mindanao, namely: Tandag City Satellite Office in Surigao del Sur that was opened on May 7, 2011, Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, opened on June 11, 2011 and Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte opened on June 18, 2011.

The initiative of SAFRAGEMC to open these satellite offices was mandated by the majority resolution of SAFRAGEMC General Assembly in February 2010 that savings and credit operation of SAFRAGEMC will expand throughout the Philippines. Read more...

Coop to Invest Programs for OFWs
by Rey N. Antoni

It is a partnership that is bound to happen.

With the installation of a new resource and training center, the Datu Lipus Makapandong: Agusan del Sur Youth Employment & Migrant Center (AYEMC) at Patin-ay, Agusan del Sur, the Provincial Government, through the mediation of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has recently identified the San Francisco Growth Enhancement Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SAFRAGEMC) as one of its partners in providing economic services for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and their immediate families.

The new facility which promises to improve the quality of life of every OFW in the region by providing them with a place to chat, confer and complain about issues confronting migration is now open to all overseas contract workers of Caraga.

And working as Co-Coordinator of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the lead coordinator of its Economic, Savings and Investment program, SAFRAGEMC was given the task to provide business counseling, marketing assistance, linkages and entrepreneurship training specifically for the OFWs, and mentoring them eventually of the importance of managing their finances for future use.

Samuel Cobrado, Field Coordinator of IOM said that SAFRAGEMC is more than capable of providing these services to our OFWs, now that it has been recognized as a leading cooperative in the region.

He said that with the resources and the open atmosphere of SAFRAGEMC as a business coordinator and a cooperative as a whole, the Youth Employment & Migrant Center will ultimately become a marketing hub for their recently identified project, i.e., the promotion of Abaca products. (AT)

SAFRAGEMC goes Abaca

by Arvin Tampus

Sinamay mode

AFTER SETTING UP some changes in its nameplate late last year, the San Francisco Growth Enhancement Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SAFRAGEMC) is now entering a new phase in its operation as a local Business Development Service Provider (BDSP) of Abaca products.

In its desire to further enhance the capability of SAFRAGEMC as a “gateway to prosperity”, and after acknowledging the potential of Abaca products in the region as the “next best thing” in terms of marketing value, the cooperative is now planning to include in its mission the production and the eventual promotion of the said product.

And with the help and assistance of the Integrated Conservation Solutions-Asia (ICS-Asia), a convergence broker from Makati City, that specializes in giving corporate linkages and capability-building workshops, SAFRAGEMC was able to jumpstart its newly-found calling as a Business Development Service Provider in the region.

The said project is now on its 2nd phase, as ICS-Asia is slowly giving the reigns of consolidating the Abaca trade to SAFRAGEMC, together with its partners, as a local BDSP to various participating associations, who had expressed their desire to not only produce the necessary volume needed for the production, but as member-depositors to the cooperative as well.

Along with various associations (kapunungans) in the areas of Sibagat, Bayugan and Prosperidad, three municipalities that have been identified with the project of producing the necessary Abaca products (Sinamay and Pinukpok), ICS-Asia and with the participation of SAFRAGEMC, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), PLGUs and MLGUs of the Caraga Region, did manage to complete the initial phase of its project by making the cooperative the lead consolidator of the entire production.

Not to be outdone in the marketing of it, the cooperative staff, including the Board of Directors (BODs), managers of different branches and offices of SAFRAGEMC, not to mention the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Frederico A. Blanco himself, have recently attended the Marketing Plan Development Workshop (for the Abaca Trade of Agusan del Sur) through ICS-Asia, to learn specifically the marketing and promotion of anything Abaca. (With reports by Jeric Madelo, Corrine Mae Tan-Nuer, and Rey N. Antoni)