Memories: 100 Years Of The College Coop

COLLEGE, LAGUNA: UP Los Baños has a beautiful campus. It is here where the College Consumers' Cooperative (College Coop) was born. Is it here where it is going to die this year?

Historically, the Coop was the very first consumers' coop founded in the Philippines. The date: 20 October 1916. Somehow, this repeated history elsewhere, as the very first cooperative in the world was a consumers' cooperative founded in England in 1844 (zadruga.obz.hr). That is why the Coop is celebrating its 100th year this 2016.

In fact, the cooperative movement in the Philippines arrived with the Americans at the beginning of their occupation of the islands (Jo Balucanag-Bitonio, 12 July 2012, slideshare.net). Cooperatives were advocacies of the missionary and religious groups and programs of government agencies designed to help the people especially in the rural areas. It was Commonwealth Act 2508 (Agriculture Credit Association Act) that provided regulations for the creation of cooperatives to extend credit to and develop the habit of thrift among members.

The College Coop was born just 2 years after Act 2508 was passed by the Second Philippine Legislature on 11 February 1914, sponsored by Representative Rafael Corpuz of Zambales embodying the ideas of Bulacan Governor Teodoro Sandiko, who thereby earned the title "Father of Cooperation" in the Philippines.

The pioneer organizers of the College Coop were all connected with UPCA and reflected their different scientific fields of interest: Bienvenido M Gonzales (animal husbandry), JW McLean, Otto A Reinking (pathologist), Fred William Foxworthy (forestry), Harold Cuzner (forestry), Francisco M Fronda (animal husbandry), JL Marfori, Leopoldo B Uichanco (entomology), RB Espino (botany), GO Ocfemia (pathology), Charles Fuller Baker (entomology), CS Banks (entomologist), Pedro A David (agriculture), J Jamias, Ramon K Habaluyas (agriculture), FO Santos (agriculture), AL Teodoro (engineering), Inocencio R Elayda (mathematics), AV Yñiguez, Emiliano F Roldan (agriculture), Hilarion S Silayan (agriculture), Felix B Sarao (animal husbandry), Manuel L Roxas (agriculture), Fernando de Peralta (agronomy), Tomas C Ferrer (animal husbandry), and Antonio R Chanco (agriculture). Edwin Bingham Copeland (botany) was UPCA Dean at that time, the very first, with classes starting in June 1909. After Copeland died, CF Baker became Dean of UPCA in 1917.

The College Coop was first known as the Agricultural Cooperative Company and started with a paid-up capital of P4,000. It changed name along the way, first renamed the College Cooperative Company Inc., then College Cooperative Association Inc., and finally the College Consumers' Cooperative.

Why is the name always with the word "College"? The word is synonymous with the UP College of Agriculture in those early years, as well as the campus of UP Los Baños today. "College" is also a legitimate post office address with its own zip code: College, Laguna 4031.

The Coop store was partially damaged on Christmas Day in 1941 by bombing, and totally destroyed during the liberation struggle in 1945.

The Coop is a consumers' cooperative, which is one of the six regular types of primary cooperatives in the Philippines, the list including credit, marketing, service, producers, and multi-purpose.

A consumers' coop is a business owned by customers primarily for economies of scale and convenience in the purchase of household and office goods, secondarily for profit. As a consumers' coop, the College Coop bought and sold commodities to members and non-members within the College campus.

Any consumers' coop takes the form of a retail outlet owned and operated by the members, who are also its customers, although non-members may also purchase items in the store. The purpose is to provide quality goods and services at affordable costs.

For a great many years, the College Coop had served well the College, now UPLB community, particularly when there was no supermarket in the vicinity (Grove) or town.

Since the beginning, the Coop has been of service to College constituents in the following manner:

(1) Selling quality goods at prices comparable with other stores.

(2)Offering canteen services for meals and snacks at reasonable prices to students, employees, residents of the College (now University), and visitors to the campus.

(3) Serving as training ground for group action, group responsibility, and democratic leadership. This is the essence of a cooperative.

(4) Conducting education & training on cooperatives for members, officers and employees, for the benefit of all.

(5) Helping people in the community earn additional income by selling their products on consignment.

(6) Employing several people from the community.

(7) Distributing dividends on a yearly basis as interest on a member's capital share contributed to help run the coop.

(8)Distributing patronage refund at the end of the year for purchases or transactions made by a member, which is equivalent to discount for any purchase made.

(9) Lending to members for any of various financial needs.

More Pieces Of Coop History Needed

(I'm writing a book on the College Coop's history. Please contribute stories, images, scrapbooks or jottings about the Coop in any year past.)

Memories

Frank A Hilario

When I was 1st Year at the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) in 1959, we students knew it by its friendly name, Coop. Just Coop. It occupied 2 little buildings, one was the canteen and the other for school and office supplies. Sometimes we ate at the canteen, the building of which also housed the Coop's office, and bought our school supplies like bluebooks and ballpens at the store, among other things. The buildings were located at the back of the library and a stone's throw from the clean and refreshing Molawin Creek and very near the Palma Bridge leading to the campus playground. Where it stands even today, business-wise, it is centrally located.

The canteen was where we had snacks every now and then. My barkada was Nestor Pestelos spouting Jean-Paul Sarte, Remigio Torres spouting economics, and Aniceto Llaneta spouting poetry. One time, at the canteen, we came out with our dreams. I said I was going to be the best writer. Nestor said, "I'm going to be the best short story writer." And I said, instantly, "And I'm going to write about that!" Friendly exchanges of boasting.

Paz Eulalia Saplala

1953: It was my first day as a new instructor at UPCA. The Betans invited me and my colleagues to eat. The only nice eating place was the Coop. the sides were open and it had earthen floor. On the right side was a room which was the watering hole of the Associated Women's Students. At that time, the ratio of women to men students was 1:10.

All of a sudden a young man came riding in on a horse to talk with some of the customers. I was taken by surprise, but my companions were not. Apparently, they were used to such happenings. I learned later that the rider was an instructor of Animal Science.

More Memories Needed

Please contribute your own memories, long or short, about the Coop in any year past.

To contribute memories, images, stories whatever, please text or call this special number:
0908-111-6622 (Frank A Hilario), or email at frankahilario@gmail.com