BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Cooperatives from Ifugao province gathered for the annual cooperative month celebration at the Tam-an Mountain Resort here with a clear message.
They warned the public to save their money in the cooperatives and to shy away from get-rich-quick pyramiding scams that already victimized many people in Ifugao and elsewhere.
During the solidarity night on Friday, a Banaue-based country music band played an original composition that lambasted “Satarah” and “Three Angels”—two business schemes who are now being chased by authorities after allegedly carting away millions from innocent victims.
“Save your money the cooperative way, else ‘Satarah’ and ‘Three Angels’ will take them away,” the lyrics said, making the audience burst in thunderous laughter. The song also depicted the pyramiding schemes as “masked demons.”
Tam-an Multipurpose Cooperative Inc. (TMPCI) in now a billionaire cooperative that started in the town of Banaue, Ifugao several decades ago.
“I am amazed with the report after our recent audit, that our assets again grew to P58-million in just a month,” General Manager Jose D. Tomas told his guests.
“If you divide our P1-billion collective asset by 158,000 members, that is just over P6,000 each. Should we not remain tax exempt?” Tomas asked, reacting to a move to tax cooperatives.
TMPCI owns a Mountain Resort, a construction business, and a gasoline station in this town. The cooperative has branches in provinces of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino aside from its main office and branches in Ifugao.