The Sagada Government Employees Credit Cooperative, Incorporated (SGECCUI) was organized in 1965 through the prodding aspiration of Mr. Justin Daoas, a volunteer cooperative organizer who was instrumental in the formation of cooperatives in different mining districts especially the Benguet Consolidated, Inc.. Due to his persistence, he was able to convince the District Supervisor of Sagada, Mr. Bartolome Daoas Sr., to organize a cooperative for teachers and give reading materials relative to cooperatives for their consumption. With these efforts, the Pupils Cooperative was informally organized; the pupils contributed twenty-five centavos (₱0.25) while the teachers contributed one peso (₱1.00). Although it was not registered, the organization was a great success. The operation provided a training avenue for teachers in the management of a cooperative enterprise.
The significant development from these experiences had further inspired the volunteer organizer; he made several visits in Sagada for monitoring purposes. The District Supervisor eventually realized the potential the cooperative could provide in the locality. He observed the rampant usury business in the area wherein the victims were mostly teachers. This situation prompted him to do something about this. He challenged one of his co-teachers, Mr. Rex Reyes to spearhead the organization, which was actually operating as a credit cooperative.
The latter accepted the challenge and was given reading materials for a start. The group proposed to strengthen and expand the operation to other areas not only the Central School thus to cover the entire district of Sagada. The proposal was brought to the attention of other teachers during the District Teacher’s Conference. Notwithstanding some discussions, it was decided to give the proposition a try. From here, the quorum agreed to have interim officers to be elected to start the ball rolling. Most of the core leaders came from Sagada Central School. Elected officers to lead the cooperative were as follows:
- President – Bartolome Daoas Sr.
- Vice-President (First) – Pagat Villanueva
- Vice-President (Second) – James Pooten
- Treasurer – PioDacumos
- Secretary – Rex Reyes Sr.
Thus the Sagada Government Employees’ Credit Cooperative Union was born. Like any other new organization, SGECCUI experienced birth pains, considering that the standard of living is very low. Most teachers were not even sold to the idea of credit cooperative movement. Some of them took on the “wait and see attitude”; some doubted the objective of the cooperative business, thus, leading to the difficulty of collection especially in the payment of share capital. The dissension gave the challenge to the core leader, the District Supervisor, to exert greater effort in convincing his co-teachers to the cooperative principle and idea. The great support of Mr. Ignacio Daoas who was then the principal of Ambasing Elementary School, helped in the dissemination of the idea of cooperativism to their co-teachers. These entailed the success of the cooperative as it is now. A teacher, Mrs. Dominga Rasalan volunteered to take the initiative and became instrumental in the collection of share capital, of which was agreed to be the mandatory source of capital build-up of members to accommodate the loan applicants.
Accordingly, with the good outcome of the organization as shown in the reports of the interim officers, Mr. Justin Daoas came several times to Sagada to update and further monitor the development of the Sagada Government Employees’ Credit Cooperative Union, Inc. operation. He came one time to Sagada with certain Mrs. Hildegarda B. Domantay, an employee of the BCI Cooperative and an accountant by profession to assist in the continuous education of members and to the registration processes of the organization. Mr. Rex Reyes Sr. then took the time of going to Baguio for further consultation with the BCI Cooperative Management and with the Cooperative Administration Office (CAO) for inquiry/information about cooperative’s registration. On October 4, 1966, the Sagada Government Employees Credit Cooperative (SGECCUI) submitted all the requirements for registration. Finally, on October 12, 1966, Sagada Government Employees’ Credit Cooperative (SGECCUI) was officially granted its application for registration and was duly registered to operate as a Credit Cooperative under Republic Act No. 32023 and Registration No. 0001520.
The Cooperative Administrative Office extended technical assistance to SGECCUI as part of their mobilization program through Atty. DonatoSuyat assisted by Mrs. Hildegarda B. Domantay and Mr. Justin Daoas. With help from this group, members and officers of the credit cooperative were able to strengthen their knowledge on cooperativism.
Pursuant to Presidential Decree 175 all registered cooperatives under the previous law that is the Cooperative Administrative Office were required to re-register with the Bureau of Cooperative Development (BCOD), which took over the CAO. The Cooperative By-laws and Articles of Cooperation were presented to the BCOD on October 1, 1973 to comply with Presidential Decree 175. On April 11, 1977, the BCOD approved the re-registration of Sagada Government Employees’ Credit Cooperative. The BCOD issued Registration No. BCOD-FF-491-22 to the SGECCUI duly signed by the Undersecretary Orlando J. Sacay. In 1991, the government issued a new legal provision amending the registration of cooperatives under Article 128 of RA 6938 and Section 17 of Republic Act 6939, stating that all cooperatives registered under Presidential Decree 175 and Executive Order 898, are to register with the Cooperative Development Authority and that cooperatives shall submit copies of their Article of Cooperation and by-laws, Certificate of Registration and latest duly audited financial statements. The SGECCUI complied with all the requirements so on March 20, 1991, the Cooperative Development Authority confirmed the registration of SGECCUI under Confirmation No. 799. During the general assembly of the cooperative held on March 17, 1998, the assembly approved the change of the name, Sagada Government Employees Credit Cooperative Union, Inc. to become Sagada Multi-purpose Cooperative. A resolution governing the approval of the change was presented to the Cooperative Development Authority which approved the Certificate of Registration of the Amendment by substitution to the Article of the Cooperation and By-laws.
The Cooperative has also complied with the requirements prescribed by the Cooperative Development Authority for the issuance of a New Certificate of Registration under article 144 of RA 9520 otherwise known as the “Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008” on February 10, 2010. SMPC is currently registered under CIN 0106150036 with registration number 9520-15007827.
During its early operation, the cooperative had an initial paid-up share capital of ₱490.00 with only twenty-five (25) members. Most members experienced the difficulty to raise and set-up its capitalization for the loans of its members. The officers rendered voluntary services for the benefit of the cooperative for ten (10) years. Office supplies, equipment and other necessities were solicited and then to the extent that members relinquish their patronage refund to cover-up other necessities, which they were not able to solicit.
Eventually, membership grew and was extended to veterans, pensioners, and non-government employees, municipal and national employees of the government. The cooperative amended its Article of Cooperation and By-laws several times to widen its membership and add more services that were extended to its members.
As at August 31, 2004, the cooperative’s membership grew up to 1,651 with ₱39,771,430.73 paid-up share capital and total assets amounting to ₱53,112,354.97 a cry distance from the start of the cooperative. As per financial analysis of its operation, the cooperative has high-level liquidity. However, the cooperative has come a long way from its initial organization where it was not even expected to prosper.