THE Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) turned over P8.5 million to the Lengaoan Indigenous Farmers Credit Cooperative (LIFCC) and Pakiya Multi-purpose Cooperative (PMPC) on April 11, at the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC).
Through the initiative of the Department of Agriculture (DA)–Cordillera Administrative Region, the loan benefitted 852 members initiated by ACPC through the Philippines Veterans Banks under the Program for Unified Lending to Agriculture (Punla) project in Northern Luzon.
Undersecretary for High Value Crops and Rural Credit, Evelyn Laviña encouraged the beneficiaries to develop a five-year plan on how the loan money will be utilized.
Laviña told them to review their vision, mission and goals so that their project would be sustainable.
“This five-year plan is the desire of each and every one to be independent. You should help one another to achieve development in the community. This plan will serve as your guide to achieve continuity so that you can stand on your own feet and sustain the loan fund to achieve your common goal,” said Laviña.
She also urged farmers to look at their cooperative as a body that can do everything if they move as one and must assert their rights and find the niche from production to marketing, value chain, and supply and demand
Meanwhile, Joaquin Depalog, manager of LIFCC, said the loan money will be used in the cooperatives vegetable production especially to the semi-temperate crops.
“We’ll be updating our short and long term plans as required by Undersecretary Laviña and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA),” Depalog said.
He hopes these two cooperatives will spearhead a federation in the entire region to strengthen their camaraderie for the development of the community.
This loan release ceremony was a joint effort of DA-CAR, ACPC, Philippine Veterans Bank, LIFCC, and PMPC. (PR)