Lamac populace was mostly farmers whose problem was to acquire their basic needs & services. Hence, barangay Lamac before was without roads,only trails;without electricity, only kerosene lamps that dotted the darkness like fireflies; without tap & potable water, only deepwell & spring; no transportation of any kind, except their two feet which had grown callous to the thorny and dangerous trails a
s the main vehicle to transport basic needs & produce of the community. It’s so timely that the Department of Local Government and Community Development (DLGCD) had a program to organize farmers into an association called “ Samahang Nayon”, which gave birth to Lamac Samahang Nayon in the year 1973. Orientation training was conducted to at least 70 participants who were mostly tenant-tillers and small farm owners. They had contributed an initial capital of P50.00 per member. From the small beginning of P3,500.00, they had started the operation of Consumer/Marketing Services and volunteer members ran this. From its creation as a Samahang Nayon, it garnered several awards. Management of various projects was successful until 1986 when the financial status of the coop decline due to various management and leadership problems. Since the SN projects became diversified, the management found it difficult to handle the operation. It was timely, that the group , that the group of young local professionals and college levels organized themselves in the name “ Barangay Lamac Organization on Management Effectiveness System Inc. “ (BLOMES Inc.) to assist the organizations of the barangay in terms of technical assistance. A group of five young professionals was requested by the management to assist in running the cooperative. Gradually, the LSN was rehabilitated with the assistance of fellow cooperative leaders from CPCUI. Nevertheless, on March 13, 1992 the Samahang Nayon was transformed and registered into a full pledge multipurpose cooperative under the BLOMES Inc. Henceforth, LMPC became a multi-awarded cooperative with united members, competent, comitted and credible BOD, officers and staff. In 1995, Lamac had triple blessing. LMPC won 2nd prize of the Gawad Pitak Contest, with a prize of P400,000.00. This inspires the pioneers to aim high and fulfill their dreams. Thus, in the same year another award was received the RCBC Gawad Sikap with the prize of P100,000.00. The third blessing was the er****on of Lamac as a parish. It was a significant event of Lamac since its constituents are mostly pious and was in quenched of spiritual services. Coop once again plays its role in providing financial assistance for the construction of the convent and the major renovation of the church. On December 8, 1997, the dream of LMPC to construct a three-storey building at the heart of Lamac worth P2M was realized. The building stood magnificently with all its grandeur, which served as the landmark of LMPC success. The building was named Gawad Pitak Building since it was built through the unified efforts of the members in winning the series of LBP Gawad Pitak competitions. Lamac became densely populated and scarcity of water in the vicinity became the problem. By nature it is blessed with a cool Sinungkulan Spring and with several caves, which are to be developed for eco-tourism. The constituents obsessed to have a water service, which was also the priority project of the barangay council. Financial constraints hampered the plan. The brgy. council and LGU challenged LMPC to rehabilitate the old water reservoir. Thru fervent prayer God responded the need, LMPC won the 1st prize of the LBP Gaead Pitak Contest nationwide in the amount of P500,000.00. The prize was initiallyspent for the installation of the new water system. Congressman Antonio Yapha Jr. also extended an amount of P1.5 M for the filtration plant. Thus presently, water is already potable and available in most households in the community. The DENR thru their Community Based Forest Management Assitance (CBFMA) Program entrusted LMPC to manage the 35 hectares of timberland to protect and preserve the watershed and the forest. Thru CBFMA the LMPC and DENR able to establish partnership top provide IGP to upland farmers such as swine dispersal, forest/fruit trees seedling production. With these achievement, people from satellite barangay joined LMPC. Moreover, people from the town of pInamungajan came to Lamac asking if LMPC could extend their services fro them because many of them had become victim of money usurers specially the women. So, with the guidance and blessings of our Almighty Father, this humble beginning of LMPC served as a strong foundation to commit prosperity wherein this hidden valley glitters and shares its blessings to the municipality of Pinamungajan thus it amended its area of operation from a barangay base into a municipal wide operation in the year 1998. With the all out support of the members and the Local Government (LGU) who provided the lot in a strategic place of the town, a new branch office building was erected and inaugurated on December 10, 2000. Early part of 2001 LMPC was able to establish linkage with Capital Credit Union (CCU) thru the twinning coop program of Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA) thru VICTO. A group of Canadian coop leaders came to visit LMPC to experience the Filipino coop way of life. In the same year , four of the LMPC coop leaders paid a return visit to Canada to share and exchange views pertaining to coop development. On June 29, 2001, the LMPC was able to establish the Toledo Branch Office after the amendment of our area of operation which was for the entire 3rd District of cebu (from Barili to tuburan ). Its entry point was the expansion of the MAP and HELP project since LMPC became the conduit of PCFC and CARE Philippines. On January 21, 2002, LMPC won the RAFI Triennial Award with prize P250,000.00. The amount was spent for the procurement of the lot for the housing project. Thereby it encourages the constituents to work harder to avail the credit facility so as to acquire a better and convenient home to live in. LMPC also plays a vital role in the Municipal Cooperative Development Council(MCDC) various activities like the small and big coop brother program. Because of this , LGU gave LMPC the preferential rights to finance the LGU admin-infrastructure projects. With this involvement, the CDA and the Representative of the 3rd Congressional District chose LMPC as the conduit of the Lingap sa Mahirap Fund with P1M and the PDAF with an amount of P4.9M. All these are for the financial and technical assistance of the PO’s, NGO’s and Coops within the 3rd District of Cebu. In the year 2002, due to the demand of the members, the Balamban Branch office was created which caters the members of Balamban, Asturias and Tuburan. Year 2003 is a big year for lamac MPC for its bags the most coveted award from Land Bank of the Philippines “ the Ginintuang Gawad” and received the prize of P1M. It is a contest among Hall of Famer Cooperatives nationwide and from this award and the financial assistance from our partner coop in Canada , the CCU we were able to construct a Cooperative Training Center that eventually became a resort, the Hidden Valley Training Center & resort. The Board of Directors amended the area of operation of the cooperative into provincial wide in the year 2004 and after its approval we established a branch office in Minglanilla to serve our members in the municipalities of Minglanilla , Naga, and the city of Talisay and because of its tremendous membership expansion. Tuburan sub office was established to assist our members in Tuburan and Tabuelan and then two two sub offices were open in the year 2005. Lutopan Sub Office was created last February 20, 2005 and to serve our members in southwest part of Cebu, Barili Sub Office was opened last June 25, 2005. Early part of the year 2006 another two sub offices were opened these are Carcar Sub Office for our members in the southeast part of Cebu and a week after February 25 Bogo Sub Office was opened to cater the needs of our members in the northern part of this province. To serve our members in the southern part of Cebu, we opended our office in Oslob to cater 6 municiplaities ad for Metro Cebu, Mandaue Sub Office was opened last November 18, 2006 to serve Manduae, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Lapulapu City. Due to Mandaue Sub - Office rapid expansion, the Lapulapu City Sub Office was opened last September 08, 2008 to cater the city of Lapulapu and Cordova. At present Lamac Multi-purpose Cooperative is operating in the whole province of Cebu with 14 business offices and still hoping for more development in order to deliver the desired services to its members anchored in our Vision and Mission and guided by our Core Values LOVE. loyalty, oneness, valor and empathy.
