Southern Leyte Employees’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative, better known as SLEMCOOP, is a cooperative but operating with the intricacies of a big family, SLEMCOOP has grown from a simple beginning with assets amounting to P 64,000.00 and the minimum requirement of 50 members, to a phenomenal P 91.4 million in assets with 1,137 members as of December 2003. But how did SLEMCOOP come into being and how did it grow this big? Way back in the 60’s, a bunch of guys started discussing among themselves, expounding ideas on helping the poor providing shelter for the homeless, or perhaps establishing a cooperative as a source of livelihood for those in need of financial assistance. This good-intention little group decided to make good use of the little something that they had and came up with the name Provincial Government Employees Association (a.k.a. Their aim was to be able to extend lending services to members in great need. However, since it was such a small organization, the benefits and services were naturally limited. The organization was faced with seemingly insurmountable odds and challenges and all the noble intentions, sad to say, were not enough to battle procrastination, impatience, helplessness, the lack of motivation, the unavailability of enough funds, thus, the inevitably of failure. Somehow, time didn’t seem to favor the COOP. It didn’t work, and the whole this just seemed to vanish into thin air. Around 1980’s, Salvacion Oppus Yñiguez, then the provincial governor, took the initiative to revive the whole idea. With some retrieved assets from the previous organization, dashed with a great dose of optimism, and a couple of good hands to manage the newly revived organization, the whole idea started to work. This time, its coverage and resources were expanded. Since some of the original members have already transferred to other government offices within the province, the newly formed cooperative extended its services to cover the whole of Southern Leyte. That was the birth of SOUTHERN LEYTE EMPLOYEES’ MULTI-PURPOSE COOPERATIVE (a.k.a. SLEMCOOP)
From then on, SLEMCOOP has managed to keep the show on the road. It reintroduced the quest for the envisioned human development program. In the latter part of 1986, fifteen (15) incorporators sat down together and framed the Coop’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. In the process, they had to ask themselves a lot of soul-searching questions in order to define and direct the COOP towards the right path. The output of this meeting of minds later served as guide for the adoption of proper programs and strategies to further the cause. Finally, in December 9, 1986 SLEMCOOP was registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Region VIII, the registration of which was confirmed by the Cooperative Development Authority, Quezon City. SLEMCOOP did not stop in just being a financial organization. It adopted visionof achieving total human development. But since vision’s ideals need to be translated into actions, strategies had to be developed in the form of a mission, and that was to instill cooperativism as a way of life and as catalyst in the promotion and development of the values of self-reliance, mutual assistance and solidarity. SLEMCOOP has now adopted strategies that help strengthen the cooperative by making sure that management is effective in its function and is aware of the scope of its accountability. It also endeavors to promote and develop programs that will enhance members’ education so that acceptance of cooperative values and ideals becomes an integral part of their lives. The COOP also assists members in projects that will enable them to become independent and productive. Finally, it sees to its that continuous cooperative education in provided to its officers, staff and members. Membership in the cooperative is beneficially productive, not only to the members but to the whole organization as well. The more members the COOP generates, the bigger its chances to a productive capital build-up. The process has thus become responsive to the needs of the members by financing its assistance programs, which include the Livelihood Loans Program, the Mortuary Assistance Program, and the Retirement Benefit Program. Still keeping its focus on its vision and mission, SLEMCOOP has expanded its area of operation s by advancing into Social Development Projects, which include the Scholarship Program, the Social Concern Program, the Youth Development Program and the Coop health Program. Moreover, efforts have also been undertaken to strengthen ties, thus, bringing together the idea of building a community in the form of a subdivision. The Coop Village of Ibarra, considered as one of the Coop’s major programs, is now being built as part of the great mission. SLEMCOOP, however, would not be what it is today without the shared ideas and vision of its members. As long as there are people who believe in its mission, as long as there are those who are willing to share their time and resources, as long as its members participate in its programs and undertakings, and as long as it has leaders who remain faithful to their calling as trustworthy stewards of this organization, SLEMCOOP will continue to grow and prosper. Its ability to respond to the needs of its members will be greater; its resources will be more stable, and its relevance to the community more evident. For SLEMCOOP, the future is truly bright. How can you be of SLEMCOOP? A simple visit to its offices can satisfy most of your questions. Or simply talk to any of its officers – they are more than willing to talk to you about the cooperative. Its financial standing is easily perused, its policies straightforward. In the end, the decision to be part of SLEMCOOP is yours to consider carefully, for, after all, it is not just an organization you are joining, but a COMMINITY and a FAMILY.
