CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE "FICCO 53rd G.A."

Cooperatives have proven to be highly effective in improving the quality of life of peoples all over the world. FICCO is an outstanding example.

FICCO has never been an overnight sensation. Neither was it built nor created by just one individual. It is a collective accumulation of cycles of transition, discovery, hard work and more importantly, collective effort. Great leaders, committed volunteers, diligent staff and supportive members comprise the FICCO Team in striving to reach out and attain its vision and mission.

The journey to success is long and arduous. But the forerunners of this cooperative kept their minds towards achieving the dream of SERVICE, EMPOWERMENT, AND UPLIFTMENT.

FICCO now has a 103,584 strong membership base and 2.4 Billion Pesos in total assets as of December 31, 2007.

Through over 50 years of service, FICCO's philosophy of self and mutual help has been demonstrated by its owners-members in terms of money saved, money borrowed and money paid back.

Quite a remarkable feat for an organization that is not for charity, not for profit but for service.

Our three business pillars of growth, i.e., Credit, Insurance through the FICCO Mutual Benefit Association and Funeral Service, are now being pursued to address the ever changing times and hurdle the identified needs of our members.

At present, we have twenty seven (27) business centers strategically located to cater to members' needs and we plan to put up more in the future. We took bold steps to undertake revolutionary services that will forever change the face of the cooperative movement in the Philippines. Soon enough, FICCO will become a national model of modern financial solutions among Filipino cooperatives.

Our aim is not only to become the biggest cooperative in the entire country, but also to become the most dynamic and proactive cooperative that will cause a ripple effect towards good governance, stability and sustainability.

Fellow cooperators, let us be one in solidarity to promote cooperativism and blaze that trail for others to emulate. We remain the Philippine industry's No. 1 and biggest open-community type multi-purpose cooperative, and we expect to sustain this with our Volunteer Leadership and Spirit of Cooperativism.

(Sgd.) PROCULO T. SARMEN
Chairman