With sheer determination to rise up from slumber for too long of a time, aiming for a fresh start is possible.

In the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija, where science and agriculture activities bustle, a group of farmers in barangay Licaong took the chance to establish a cooperative, which they named Licaong Dairy Producers Cooperative (LDPC) in 2004. 

Initially, the hope to create a vibrant community of dairy farmers in this part of the town was high, keeping the spirit of cooperativism alive. At the onset, the undertaking proved to be working well for the pioneers but it wasn’t long enough when most members went offhand, leaving the fledgling project barely making an impact.  

   
This happened despite the full support of DA-PCC, providing LDPC with dairy animals complete with dairy farming equipment and machinery. Eventually, the cooperative lost not only its members but its business as well.

However, a “few good men” stayed in the cooperative and pledged to stand by what they have started. They trudged on and even with slow and arduous progress, not to mention the disdainful comments from their avid critics, they carried on the hope that someday, they will be known not as the “disbanded” group but as a force that made Licaong proud.

In 2019, the remaining members registered the co-op to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and was renamed as Licaong Agriculture Cooperative (LAC). 

In the same year, DA-PCC’s former Executive Director Libertado Cruz, who happens to reside in a near barangay, became a member of LAC and was later appointed as its business manager. He turned the dairy business of the cooperative into an economically robust carabao-based enterprise.

In the last month of the year 2019, the LAC became a supplier of milk for the national milk feeding program of DepEd and DSWD covering the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Aurora, and Nueva Ecija in Region III.

Members of LAC since then vigorously tackled their respective roles to usher the cooperative to its former glory. There are still bumps on the road but with its current leaders and with chairman Alexander Dumale at the steering wheel, LAC is now strategically headed in a clear direction. 

As an added value to its product as a participant in the milk feeding program, LAC entered into a partnership with San Miguel Corporation for the toll processing of milk using the company’s sterilization technology, which extends the shelf life of milk from seven days to three up to six months, providing LAC a wider market reach. 

Currently, with 55 active members, Chairman Dumale is leading the group with a shared value on the love for dairy farming and how this is contributing to nation-building. He said he helps nurture this value by creating a sense of partnership, not of competition, among the members.

In 2020, the co-op acquired its own land worth PHP200,000 and measures 200 square meter area where its main office was built. The LAC have also acquired vehicles for the transport of their milk produce and for delivering their other goods and services.  

Among its other investments, it has recently established its agri-vet supplies store named Licaong Agri-Vet Supply. Cruz said this is to offer production supplies to the co-op members and even to the neighboring communities at a cheaper price.

From an initial capital of PHP18,000, the LAC is now worth almost over PHP15 million in assets. Both the opportunity and challenge that came along with this blessing have made the members of the cooperative wide awake, fully aware that what was behind them has only made them better and stronger.    

For the cooperative, buffalo dairy farming is game-changing. Back then, it was a despair to hear the problematic situation of members who incessantly complain about nothing but their mounting debts. But now, it is interesting to hear about their plans on where to invest their money. I would easily tell them: that is a better problem!