About Us

The Parish of the Holy Cross Credit Cooperative (PHCCCO) was founded in 1990 by then Parish Priest of Gen. T. de Leon, +Fr. MAR DJ ARENAS with 63 other parishioners, with an initial capital of P20,000.00. Its first office was in a humble room at the Parish rectory with only 2 personnel (1- full-time cashier/clerk, in the person of +Delia V. Santos and 1- part time manager/bookkeeper, in the person of +Perpetua R. Cezar (Sis. Pet), operating 3 days in a week. The first Treasurer was Benita C. de Leon (Sis. Bennie) who, with Sis. Pet, spear-headed all efforts with Fr. Mar in the beginning. The founding Board of Directors were on a voluntary basis who agreed to work without perdiem and met twice a month to discuss, plan and resolve problems that arose in the operation.

At that time, they had little knowledge about cooperatives but they were armed with deep faith and high spirits to pursue their goal. They sought the help of a more experienced cooperative, the St. Martin of Tours Kilusang Bayan sa Pagpapautang, Inc. (SMTKBPI) to provide the basic knowledge about cooperatives. The group further embarked on a continuous literacy program (which is being practiced up to now) that provided them with knowledge and skills they needed to efficiently operate the cooperative. First, they lent small loans to founding members in need and soon, other people in the parish took interest in the cooperative. Membership poured in numbers as weeks passed. The first years of the Cooperative were sure tough but because of the dedication, cooperation and determination of the leaders, PHCCCO managed to take off and started to grow steadily.

Msgr. MAR DJ ARENAS was the first Parish Priest of the Parish of the Holy Cross, Gen. T. de Leon, Valenzuela City. He believed that pooling together of talents and treasures among the people can help uplift the condition of the community, so he and 63 other parishioners started PHCCCO IN 1990.

Msgr. MAR dedicated his life for the welfare of not only the Church and HCSCCO, but the whole cooperative movement in the country. At different instances in his life, he served as Chairman of the Board of various cooperative federations in the country including government organizations geared at the cooperative movement. He will always be remembered as one of the great cooperative leaders.

Remembering Msgr. MAR DJ ARENAS, Founding Chairman

Monsignor Mar DJ Arenas founded the PARISH OF THE HOLY CROSS CREDIT COOPERATIVE, INC. (PHCCCI) in 1990 with 63 other parishioners of the Parish of the Holy Cross, wherein he was also the first Parish Priest. He started the Cooperative simultaneously with other church organizations as he was building a new parish at Barangay Gen. T. de Leon. He saw the need of many parishioners to uplift their socio-economic condition and the concern of the Church for human development, so he initiated efforts to put up a cooperative. He envisioned it to enhance the people’s lives by providing them with equal opportunities like those who have more in life.

With his leadership, the Cooperative was registered with the Bureau of Cooperatives Development under Registration No. 59 in May 1990. It was later re-registered in 1992 with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) under Registration No. Q-121-0215 as Parish of the Holy Cross Credit Cooperative (PHCCCO). In 2008,  the name PHCCCO was amended and approved by the CDA to be HOLY CROSS SAVINGS & CREDIT COOPERATIVE (HCSCCO), the name popularly known to the Philippine cooperative community.

He initiated all efforts, with the support of the other officers, in the growth and development of the cooperative until it reached the present status where it is today.

He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1990 to 1992, then  in1994 up to the time of his death in 2014.

While Chairman of the Board of HCSCCO,  he also served as Chairman/Member of the Board of Directors of other cooperative federations such as the Phil Federation of Credit Cooperatives (PFCCO, 2000-2006), the NCR League of the PFCCO (2000-2006), the Metro South Cooperative Bank (2005-2007), the Valenzuela Federation of Credit Cooperatives (1997-2002), the Phil Resort-Hotel Educ. Service Cooperative (PRESCO, 2005-2012), the Phil. Cooperative Center (PCC, 2005-2013), and the Cooperative Deposit Insurance System (CODIS, 2011-2014). He was also founding president of the Ating-Koop Partylist and the Vice-Chairman of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC Coop Sector, 2006-2012).

He dedicated his life in the service of the people and the community as evidenced by his untiring and selfless efforts geared towards uplifting people’s lives.

As he excelled as a cooperative leader, he also excelled as a parish priest in the various parishes wherein he was assigned under the Diocese of Malolos.  The first was in Gen. T. de Leon, wherein he established a progressive church of stone and a church of people from 1990 to 2002. He was transferred to San Isidro Labrador Parish in Malinta, Valenzuela City in 2003, then to the Divine Mercy Parish & National Shrine in 2005 and finally, to the Malolos Cathedral in Malolos, Bulacan in November 2013. All the parishes he was assigned had remarkable growth and development, as he was perceived to possess a “Midas touch” because of this. He was elevated to Monsignor status in 2012 but he preferred to still be called “Father” rather than monsignor by his close friends.

He was also an advocate of Philippine culture and the arts and was an active founding president of the Museo Valenzuela Foundation ‘til  the time of his death.

Father MAR was an example of a hard-working, multi-talented and a dedicated leader of the Church and the community. Although his life may not be so long, we can say that it was one that was well-lived and maximized to its fullest.

Thank you, Father, for all the things you have done for us, the Church and the community. It was a privilege to have known and worked with you.

Rest in peace, we love you…

– Your HCSCCO Family