Mambulao
Multi-Purpose Cooperative: Attention ... this is a hijack!
By ALFREDO P
HERNANDEZ
I HAVE
likened the Mambulao Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MMPC) to a jetliner sailing on
a pitch-black night and nearing its destination, when all of a sudden its
captain, his co-pilot, their navigator and the flight crew announced a “hijack”
to the stunned, half-awake passengers.
“Attention …
this is a hijack …!
Casually,
the captain gave them two options:
The first -
they could bail out of the aircraft now and find another airliner – that is, if
they are lucky to land in one piece --- to resume their journey.
Or, they
could stay fastened on their seat belts and journey along with them.
Of course,
the split-second hijacking was unplanned, a spur of the moment move over a
flimsy reason: one of the passengers was snoring in unbelievable decibel!
With a few
nitty-gritty left before it could finally register with the Cooperative
Development Authority (CDA), the MMPC was about to become a bona fide
cooperative to engage in trading consumer goods and other potential spin-offs
that could bring income to the enterprise.
The money
required of MMPC to qualify for an authorized capital of P5 million is in the
bank.
Just a few
major documentations and of course the required signatures of two-thirds of the
members, the papers were ready for filing.
But a few
days ago, clueless of what to take up next after discussing the agenda for that
day’s meeting of the Board of Directors (BOD), the officers entertained an
item, courtesy of co-op’s treasurer Elsie Dimaunahan, before they called it a
day.
Elsie, the
workhorse and co-op’s prime mover, unleashed a litany of frustrations that she
said had made her day to day living quite a hell.
To sum it
up, she was no longer willing to deal with Jessie Lumapag, the Riyadh-based
chairman of the Mambulao’s On A Roll (MOAR), a group of overseas-working
Mambulaoans, who earlier formed the MMPC, with about 18 of them helping to
raise fund for the new co-op.
Elsie has
accused Jessie of allegedly meddling in the affairs of the co-op officers,
aside from asking for updates on what they have been doing to facilitate the
eventual registration of the group with the CDA.
Couple this
with the family pressure as she could no longer give 100% of her time to her
children. Her husband Poloy works in the Middle East and a friend of Jessie.
And then
Elsie dropped the bombshell: she was tendering her resignation from the co-op..
Instantly,
the BOD had a solution: dissolve MMPC as a name of the co-op and rename it as
“Jose Panganiban Multi-Purpose Cooperative”.
So, right
there and then, the directors declared MMPC dead on-the-spot (DOS) and baptized
the co-op “JPMPC”.
And presto!
Jessie is cut off effectively because he no longer has the right to meddle with
the affairs of a group he has nothing to do with.
And remove
once and for all the mounting pressure that Elsie was getting from the overseas
members.
Meanwhile,
MMPC’s registration as a cooperative was aborted, as its documents have been
taken over by the JPMPC.
Hijacked.
But Elsie
had assured Jessie that the funds of more than Php300,000 raised from about 90
incorporators were intact with the bank.
Jessie had
advised Elsie against touching the funds (from the overseas workers) as he
would take it up with them what to do next.
It’s quite
clear now that MMPC has been rendered an empty, useless shell, stunning its
members, especially the contract workers.
The obvious
concern: “What will happen to our money?”
In a recent
posting on the Facebook account of MMPC, which is accessed by its members
worldwide, Elsie explained her resignation:
“Wala pong
problema sa BOD … ang roots po nito ay ang pag-reresign ko dahil hindi ko na po
kayang gampanan ang tungkulin ko bilang treasurer ng BOD … tapos mag-rereport
pa sa mga OFW kung anong nangyayari dito sa local at pati ang mga minutes (of
the BOD meeting) na gusto ninyong i-post.”
It was quite
clear in this post that the name-change of the cooperative was triggered by her
offer of resignation as the co-op treasurer, which was rejected outright by the board.
Wanting to
keep her in the co-op, the BOD has engineered a solution: change the name of the
co-op, from MMPC to JP-MPC, and instantly, Jessie is cut off once and for all.
This was
further clarified by a subsequent posting, in reaction to Jessie’s “demand” to
have the chairman of the board write to him and explain the minutes of a
particular meeting held recently, if they can’t post them on the group’s
Facebook site.
Elsie fired
back: “Itong mga sinasabi mo ang isa sa mga grounds kaya binitiwan namin ang
MMPC para magawa mo ang gusto mo dahil ikaw ang gumawa niyan (meaning the
MMPC), sa’yung idea ‘yan. Kaya binago ang name para hindi mo na pwedeng idekta
sa amin ang mga gusto mo.”
She had advised Jessie that he could proceed with MMPC’s registration with CDA. But as far as JP-MCP was concerned, it would pursue its listing with the CDA.
As expected,
the tiny ripples created by the name-change developed into noisy, restless waves, with
overseas members wondering if they should also quit the co-op under JP-MPC and
take back their money.
Earlier,
Jessie quit his membership from MMPC, effective next month, and demanded that his incorporator’s money, along
with those of the three members of his family in Mambulao, be withdrawn.
This means
that his wife and daughter and an in-law are withdrawing their memberships,
too.
When Jessie
was in the early stage of a plan to form a co-op for overseas Mambulaoans and
their families, he asked me for a possible name to use.
I remember
on June 23, 2013, I suggested “Mambulao’s On A Roll”, explaining to him that
our town Mambulao is experiencing development that eventually would deliver
progress to the people, something that has never been experienced or seen in
about 50 years in the community.
After
consulting with a team that became actively involved in planning the co-op,
Jessie eventually got the endorsement for him to name the proposed cooperative
“Mambulao’s On A Roll”.
A Facebook
account was opened to carry the name.
And under
MOAR, Jessie began inviting Mambulaons to join the group as a prelude to
launching a co-op project.
But somehow,
it could not be used as the official name for CDA registration, so the core
group agreed to name the cooperative Mambulao Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MMPC),
because it was also planning to venture into a number of income-generating
activities that would also benefit the less-privileged people in Mambulao in
terms of jobs.
The original
name “Mambulao’s On A Roll” became the second name of the group.
When I was
informed that the BOD dissolved MMPC while the co-op was on its way to getting
registered officially, I was honestly shocked.
Immediately,
I PM’d Jessie to fight for the retention of MMPC as the co-op’s name.
I told him
this co-op was his “baby” and he has the right to keep its name as such.
I PM’d Elsie
the same message.
And I
stressed that the board could not just steamroll the name-changed without
submitting it to the members for deliberation – through Facebook.
The simple
reason is that the name was decided by the core members of MOAR before it was
made the official co-operative name.
Which means
the BOD has no right to dissolve it without consulting the core group.
But Elsie,
in one of her recent postings, stressed: Kung ano ang napagkasunduan ng BOD, eh
‘yun na …lalo na’t ito ay approved na … (whatever the board has decided on, it
becomes official).
And so the dropping
of the co-op’s original name for a new one became BOD’s official act.
This sad
episode in the short life of MMPC has once again brought to the surface the
ugly head of a stigma that usually put a cooperative enterprise in bad light.
And even if the
board reconsiders reverting to the original name – MMPC – to appease Jessie and
his group, would our kababayan still trust it (the current board)?
(As of this writing, the board was trying to calm down everyone by hinting that it would revert the co-op's original MMPC,)
As a parting
shot, Jessie posted: “Ako’y nalulungkot sa kinahinatnan ng ating paghihirap,
umaasa na makakatulong sa ating mga kababayan … kung sa umpisa ay ganito na ang
nangyayari, how much more sa darating na araw.
“Maraming
alibi kung bakit magku-quit, kung bakit binago ang pangalan ng co-op … sino na
ang magtitiwala sa co-op dahil sa kagagawan ninyong dalawa? (referring to Elsie
and the co-op chairman).
“Maramng
salamat sa inyo sa mga kaibigan at narecruit ko, hangad ko na mapaganda ang
ating co-op, ngunit kung ganito ang sistema na mga taong dapat pagkatiwalaan sa
co-op, inyo na ang JP-MPC.”
The co-op
per se has been proven to be a good vehicle to uplift its members, especially
those who don’t have much for a source of income.
Many farmers
who belonged to cooperatives succeeded in improving their lot because their
groups took care of the marketing of their produce for better prices, resulting
to better income for each of the member-farmers.
There was
another bonus in terms of farm training to help them improve harvest and
another on proper handling of their hard-earned cash.
The MOAR
core group was also looking at this scenario when it launched the MMPC a few
months ago.
However,
while on flight to its first major destination – the Cooperative Development
Authority – it was hijacked.
Suddenly,
MMPC became a thing of the past, a sad chapter in an effort to start another
cooperative enterprise in Mambulao.
Mambulaoans
become another loser.
For comment,
email: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg and
alfredophernandez@y7mail.com
