TAFARMCO: From Zero Assets to Joining the Billionaire’s Club through the IP Members’ Code of Honor

NESTLED in the highlands of Barangay Taloy in Benguet, the Taloy Multipurpose Cooperative (TAFARMCO) is more than just a lifeline for its members—it is a testament to resilience, cultural pride, and collective empowerment of a proud Igorot tribe.

The cooperative was established as a vehicle for its 58 core members, who were all agrarian reform beneficiaries, to secure irrigation and financial assistance from the Department of Agrarian Reform.

For instance, it received P400,000 as seed capital for Savings and Credit, which it disbursed to its members on interest. However, the lack of experience in managing a cooperative became apparent and collection rate dropped to almost zero. 

But TAFARMCO underwent some sort of a rebirth in 2009 when it joined the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), which then approved a P10 million seed capital for Savings and Credit.

Securing the funding was conditional: First, co-op officials must undergo proper management, accounting, marketing, and fiscal responsibility. Second, NATCCO assigned someone to ensure the protection of its investment.

Enter Angel Garcia, the current chief executive officer, who was appointed by NATCCO as general manager to oversee the funds.

Nobody could have foreseen back then how the seemingly innocent encounter changed the co-op’s fortunes.

“When I started, the co-op had P400,000 in assets but that was only on paper. In reality, TAFARMCO had no money,” he said, alluding to the inexperience of its officers that nearly dissolved the organization.

Poring through the books and overseeing day-to-day operations led to a realization: He could be well over his head. TAFARMCO faced several challenges—zero assets, delinquency, inactive members, and stunted growth.

The first step was to uproot TAFARMCO form Barangay Taloy Norte in Tuba, Benguet to where Mr. Garcia felt the market was—Baguio City, about an hour’s drive from the remote village. They also created plantilla positions for a cashier, bookkeeper, loans officer and development officer.

This was in November 2009. By the end of that year, the cooperative grew to 200-500 members and loaned out P2 million under its Savings and Credit component.

‘Panagkameng’

One unique aspect of TAFARMCO is that it mostly caters to the Igorot tribe. Mr. Garcia admitted that while he was previously exposed to the culture, he had to dig deep into its traditional practices to provide the best service possible.

That’s when he learned about the culture of panagkameng.

“They have a culture of saving face, which means they need to pay their debts and avoid being ostracized by the community,” he said.

Unlike banks that demanded collateral, TAFARMCO operated on social capital. Loans were approved based on character and community standing, not just financial history. This approach, though risky, worked because of the Igorot cultural emphasis on honor and accountability.

Mr. Garcia then decided to make the most of this cultural practice, along with the 5 Cs of credit (Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Conditions), to ensure fiscal sustainability. As a result, the cooperative enjoys an unprecedented collection rate of 98%.

He also showed his leadership through actions through transparent policies, participatory leadership, being adaptable to the changing times, and finding talents who would become massive assets to the organization. “I made sure that I surrounded myself with passionate people.”

TAFARMCO’s growth was astronomical. Before the pandemic, its assets already breached P500 million with over 12,000 members. From growing its income purely from Savings and Credit, it also started buying produce from its members in 2016 and delivering 5-10 tons of bell peppers to Jollibee each month.

When COVID-19 grounded the country’s economy into a halt, he feared a co-op run.

However, the sound fundamentals rooted in Igorot culture allowed TAFARMCO to thrive rather than wilt under pressure. That was also the time they diversified by establishing a mini-grocery because the lockdowns made it difficult for its members to go to the market.

Instead of dissolving, the co-op grew further due to high repayment rates because the challenges of the pandemic was nothing to the Igorot’s code of honor.

Networking and Partnerships

Beyond its internal strength, TAFARMCO’s strategic partnership with the Federation of Peoples' Sustainable Development Cooperative (FPSDC) and Agriterra in 2024 has amplified its impact, enabling access to larger funding, training, and sustainable development programs.

For instance, FPSDC facilitated an exposure tour for TAFARMCO members to Japan to see first-hand how farmers plant, process, and market their products. “Rather than delivering the vegetables raw, they deliver them to the market already cleaned and processed,” he said.

TAFARMCO also secured a P625 million grant from the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project, a part of which was used to build a four-story multipurpose food hub on an almost 2-hectare property in Barangay Taloy.

He said the co-op decided to develop its agribusiness component after seeing the need to help farmers in Benguet, specifically in Taloy.  

Cutting Out the Middle Man

Dubbed the “Salad Bowl” of the Philippines, Benguet is blessed with fertile soil and temperate climate that allows it to produce high-quality and fresh produce. However, most farmers continue to be exploited by middle men and high transportation costs. For example, the value chain in Taloy was 15 levels from the farm to the market. As a result, farmers are saddled by debt due to cheap farm gate prices.

The primary goal is to cut the value chain from 15 down to five.

The multi-million food hub, seen to operate in 2027, will allow farmers from Taloy and nearby barangays to sell their vegetables at a competitive farm gate price while bringing down the transportation cost, and thus, boost their earnings.

“We could have focused on Savings and Credit because that was how we joined the billionaire’s club. However, we wanted to help our farmers because the success of the co-op is not measured by how much it earns, but by how many members it uprooted from poverty,” he said. 

Traditional Meets Modern

Mr. Garcia also noticed a pressing problem—the average age of farmers in Benguet is 57 years old and their children have no interest in following in their parents’ footsteps. So, TAFARMCO introduced “SMART farming,” introducing greenhouses and hydroponics as opposed to field farming on the one-hectare Learning Site owned by the co-op.

Aside from teaching Good Agricultural Practices, the Learning Site also exposed farmers to new technology like automated watering of vegetables and remotely controlling the temperature.

TAFARMCO uses gentle but firm social accountability. Delinquent borrowers are reminded in community meetings, reinforcing the idea that "every peso lost is a peso taken from a neighbor." This method keeps members financially responsible without needing harsh penalties.

While banks rely on credit scores and legal threats, TAFARMCO’s members repay loans out of fear of community judgment. Defaulting doesn’t just mean financial consequences—they risk social exclusion, a powerful deterrent in a tight-knit society.

By blending Igorot traditions with modern cooperative principles and by leveraging strategic partnerships like FPSDC, it has become a blueprint for sustainable, community-driven development.

Finally, 15 years later, on the strength of 14,000 members and over P1 billion in assets, TAFARMCO’s headquarters returned to where it began—from Baguio City back to Barangay Taloy.