Ravanera: Francis Loque, Cooperative Revolutionary

CONFUCIUS once said, “The teacher will come when the student is ready.” This simple ancient adage speaks of that new age philosophy that the future unfolds in response to the preparedness of the present. Thus, the saying is more of a figure of speech that tells of the coming of an event based on the calling of the moment.

In the case of Mr. Francis Loque, a cooperative leader par excellence, such philosophical adage can be taken literally for he is a teacher and he has come in response to the challenges we now ardently face.

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He has come in the best and worst of times in a region reeling in contradictions. Caraga teems with tremendous ecological wealth, so rich in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and mines; yet, it is the second poorest region in the country. Believing that the root cause of poverty is the social exclusion and powerlessness of the inhabitants to have access and control over their resources, he has launched a collectivist counter culture to draw the people into the mainstream of development processes.

His brand of revolution is one that empowers the poor to harness their collective potentials, energies and experiences. His battle-cry is social justice, equity and sustainable development not by fire-power of guns but through a continuing struggle to empower the people socially, politically and economically. This is the reason why he now sits in the National Central Committee of the Ating Coop Partylist.

However, transforming a highly skewed societal order is a long and arduous task. It calls for intensive issue and policy advocacy which he puts to motion through fora and summits. In fact, he is now very busy preparing for the 5th Mindanao Coopeative Summit which will reel-off in Butuan City on March 5, 2010.

As the Chairman of the Regional Cooperative Council in Caraga, he is at the helm of over a thousand strong cooperatives with a critical mass of more than three hundred thousand active members spread out in the four provinces of Region 13. All of these cooperatives stand as one liberating force against the onslaught of so much poverty under his outstanding pro-people leadership.

But his versatility is not just confined in providing the leading edge in trailing-blazing cooperative development in Caraga. He has brought phenomenal achievement even in his own turf. As the General Manager of the Agusan del Norte Teachers, Retirees, and Employees Cooperative otherwise known as Antreco, he has pursued innovations for the teachers’ cooperative to gain headways.

If money be the gauge, then, the growth of Antreco’s capital from P14,500 in 1992 to Php100,857,298.85 to date speaks well of Mr. Loque’s financial acumen. This cooperative has scaled the heights and has gone region-wide in its coverage and operation. Through his enterprising leadership, Antreco has opened up new financial windows not only to the teachers but to the communities as well.

Indeed, he has left an indelible mark in showcasing that while the teachers’ cry for salary increases commensurate to the tedious task of teaching may have not been squarely met, their well-managed cooperative augurs well to unfetter them from the economic difficulties.

Now ANTRECO stands tall as it is the recipient for five consecutive years of a Plaque of Recognition as the Most Outstanding Cooperative in the Caraga Region. The teacher-members of Agusan Norte are giving us concrete lessons on cooperativism and good governance worthy of emulation.

Mr. Loque has gone a long way since the time when he started as a classroom teacher to become an Education Supervisor when he retired from the Service in 2006.

His passion to serve his fellowmen has found a niche’ in the world of cooperativism.

The teacher has come to become the ultimate cooperative man as he exemplifies to the highest degree the principles and values of that collectivist counter culture that has indeed come of age.

As one whom I have the honor and privilege of working with during my stint as the Regional Director in Caraga region, I can only paraphrase what can aptly describe Mr. Loque, to wit: “From time to time there appear on the face of the earth, men of rare and consummate excellence who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extraordinary stars of whose origins we are ignorant, and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race.” (cda_cdo@yahoo.com.ph)