MANILA, Philippines - Amid the proliferation of political disputes and depressing headlines in our country today, the inspiring story of a community from a tiny town in Romblon is a welcome breath of fresh air.
The Kabalikat Para sa Diyos at Bayan Cooperative (KAD-BAYAN) of Tabing Dagat, Odiongan, may be small but big with ideas and huge in action.
Proof of this is their list of achievements attained through Diskarteng Tipid Sulit, making them the highest-scoring winners in the Community category of the recently concluded nationwide search for the Talk ‘N Text Tipid-Sulit Idol representing South Luzon.
As Talk ‘N Text celebrates its 10th anniversary, it launched in May a nationwide search for individuals and communities who exemplify the values that are in line with the company’s ethics: ingenuity, hard work and perseverance. This is part of the telco brand’s advocacy to promote Tipid-Sulit as a Filipino value.
Fr. Allan Forcado of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Aglipay) spearheaded KAD-BAYAN some 18 years ago.
At the outset, the cooperative’s primary motive was to give the members of the Aglipay Church in Tabing Dagat economic assistance in support of its spiritual growth. It started with a lending program to help alleviate the poverty of the church members.
“While the cooperative started out to serve our church members only, we eventually opened our services to the whole town, then in the long run, to the whole province of Romblon,” Rev. Jo Falogme Jr., the current general manager of KAD-BAYAN, enthused. “Initially, we established a lending program to address the community’s poverty, but in 1997 we started investing in other fields to answer the other basic needs of the people.”
The cooperative felt the need to diversify in order to be more proactive, to generate employment for the community and to offer much lower prices for the basic commodities of the people.
Since then, there has been remarkable growth in the cooperative as they now have a grocery, drugstore, school canteen, savings and time deposit services, agricultural and veterinary supplies, rice mill, organic fertilizers, plant nursery and water refilling station, among others.
They also do their share in environmental activities such as an “adopt-a-river-program” and cleanup drives. They also sponsor medical missions in communities that need medical attention the most.
KAD-BAYAN also works hand in hand with the local government to improve the lives of Romblon residents, such as financing the farm-to-market road in Brgy. Dopawan to improve trade.
KAD-BAYAN may have garnered recognition from different award-giving bodies through the years, but it’s also had its share of struggles. Fr. Jo said the biggest hurdle was the many borrowers who didn’t pay back the money they loaned from the cooperative, which bogged down the entire organization.
So he and other members started a continuous education program: KAD-BAYAN conducts training that teaches borrowers self-reliance and how to use the money wisely — how to make it grow so they will not be dependent forever on the cooperative.
The cooperative also supports those interested in putting up small businesses like sari-sari stores that will improve the economic situation of Romblon.
The Talk ‘N Text Tipid-Sulit Idol win not only recognizes their community, the cash grant of P200,000 will also contribute to more positive change.
Aside from the four winning communities, of which KAD-BAYAN garnered the highest score, Talk ‘N Text also honored five Tipid-Sulit individual idols who were able to improve their lives with the right attitude amid difficult times. Cash grants of P200,000 per community and P100,000 per individual were awarded. The other winning communities are Damayan Bgy. Tangos Inc. of Baliuag, Bulacan, the Mindanao-based Books-4-Guns-Project, and Kumpas Kapatiran Upang Maglingkod sa Bayan of Taguig City. Individual winners were Ana Maria Bacudio of Singalong, Manila; Rosario Decasa of Baliuag, Bulacan; Jovito Uy of Calapan City; Leonarda Dicdican of Cebu; and Vilma Bonifacio of Sultan Kudarat.