15/09/2026
ᴘꜰᴄᴄᴏ ɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ᴀᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴜ ꜰᴏʀᴜᴍ ❷０❷６: ɢʀᴀᴛᴇꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ, ᴘʀᴏᴜᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱʜᴀʀᴇ, ɪɴꜱᴘɪʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇʀᴠᴇ
With grateful hearts and a renewed sense of purpose, PFCCO National proudly took part in the ACCU Forum 2026, held from September 7–12, 2026, at Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Carrying the timely and thought-provoking theme, “ᴏᴠᴇʀᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴜɴꜱᴘᴏᴋᴇɴ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛɪᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇꜱɪʟɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴇʀᴀ 2026,” the Forum brought together 571 delegates from 22 countries—credit union and cooperative leaders, professionals, advocates, and young changemakers united by a shared commitment to confront the realities facing the movement and turn today’s challenges into opportunities for transformation.
Amid this diverse gathering, PFCCO National was deeply honored to represent the Philippine credit cooperative movement through 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒓. 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒐 𝑻. 𝑼𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒄, 𝑫𝑬; 𝑫𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒓. 𝑨𝒃𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝑱𝒂𝒏 𝑺. 𝑨𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒐, 𝑫𝑬; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝑬𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒔. 𝑹𝒖𝒃𝒚 𝑫. 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓, 𝑫𝑬.
More than attending the Forum, the PFCCO National delegation was privileged to actively contribute to its conversations—as presenter, moderator, panelist, host, and participant in the different plenary and breakout sessions.
For PFCCO National, the Forum was more than an international gathering. It was an invitation to confront some of the “unspoken realities” within our own movement: Are our institutions still aligned with the mission we were created to serve? Are we truly making space for the next generation? And beyond reporting how much we have grown, are we telling people how deeply cooperatives have changed lives?
These questions found meaningful expression in PFCCO National’s contributions to the Forum.
𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝑀𝒾𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝐿𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝑒𝓇𝓋𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒟𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃
Dr. Mildredo T. Umbac presented Business Solution #48: Mission Alignment Assessment Tool, introducing a scoring instrument that examines mission alignment at three interconnected levels: the individual leader, the credit union, and the federation.
More than an assessment tool, it serves as an honest mirror—inviting leaders and institutions to examine whether their decisions, culture, products, services, and capacity-building efforts truly reflect the mission they profess.
The message was simple but powerful: when the leader who serves, the credit union that serves through its products and services, and the federation that builds the capacity of credit unions to serve all point in the same direction, the mission does not remain on paper—it reaches the life of the member.
And perhaps transformation begins precisely there—with the courage to look honestly at ourselves, acknowledge where we have drifted, and realign ourselves with the people and purpose we exist to serve.
ₜₕₑ Yₒᵤₜₕ ₐᵣₑ ₙₒₜ Wₐᵢₜᵢₙg fₒᵣ ₜₕₑ Fᵤₜᵤᵣₑ—ₜₕₑy ₐᵣₑ ᵣₑₐdy ₙₒw
PFCCO National was equally proud to see Mr. Abhel Jan S. Aquino, PFCCO National Director for Youth and a Youth Scholar Representative, take an active role throughout the Forum.
Together with fellow youth scholar Ms. Shannen Mercado, he hosted the Opening Ceremonies and later joined five other young leaders as a panelist in Plenary 4: “Youth Powered, Values-Driven: The New Credit Union Story.”
The young panelists shared how they were introduced to the cooperative movement, what keeps them engaged, and their hopes and dreams for the movement they are now part of.
And from their stories came an important message that deserves to be heard:
𝓛𝓮𝓽 𝓾𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹 𝓼𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓭𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓭𝓸.
They want to participate. They want to contribute. They want their ideas to matter. They want opportunities to lead.
Perhaps one of the “unspoken realities” we need to confront is that the challenge is not always getting young people interested. Sometimes, the greater challenge is whether we are ready to make room for them.
If we want a resilient movement, we must not simply prepare young people to inherit it someday. We must trust them enough to help build it with us today.
𝑩𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝑾𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅
Meanwhile, Ms. Ruby D. Salvador served as Moderator/Presenter for 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 #42: “𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 – 𝑨 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.”
The session challenged participants to look beyond assets, membership figures, loan portfolios, ratios, and surplus—and ask a deeper question:
Do people truly know the difference credit unions make in the lives of their members?
Anchored on the thought, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕,” the discussion highlighted the importance of communicating not only how strong our institutions are, but why our work matters.
The panelists and participants arrived at a shared realization: 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.
Because behind every number is a person.
Behind every loan may be a parent who sent a child to school, a farmer who survived a difficult season, an entrepreneur who turned an idea into a livelihood, a family that finally built a home, or a member who found hope when it was needed most.
Numbers tell people how strong we are. Stories tell them why we exist. And the lives we transform tell the world why the cooperative movement matters.
𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨: 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩.
It is time that changes.
Representing PFCCO in the ACCU General Assembly
During the ACCU General Assembly Meeting, PFCCO was represented by its Chairperson, Atty. Eleonor Hernandez, together with Chief Executive Officer Ms. Ruby D. Salvador, reaffirming PFCCO’s continuing commitment to solidarity, cooperation, and active participation in the Asian credit union movement.
𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓮, 𝓦𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓘𝓷𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭
PFCCO National extends its heartfelt gratitude to Accu Thailand for once again creating a meaningful space where credit union leaders can learn from one another, challenge old ways of thinking, share solutions, strengthen friendships, and rediscover the deeper purpose behind the work that we do.
We are especially grateful for the trust and opportunity given to PFCCO National to contribute—not merely as participants, but as partners in conversations that help shape the future of the credit union movement.
We came to Kuala Lumpur carrying our own experiences and stories. We return home carrying many more—new lessons, new friendships, new perspectives, and a renewed responsibility to serve.
And as we reflect on the Forum’s call to “Overcome Unspoken Realities,” perhaps transformation begins with something very simple: having the courage to see what needs to change, the humility to listen to voices we may have overlooked, and the commitment to keep our mission anchored on the lives of our members.
Because resilience is not simply about surviving change.
It is about having the courage to transform through it.
571 𝔡𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔰. 22 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰. 𝔇𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰. ℭ𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰. 𝔒𝔫𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱. 𝔒𝔫𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔦𝔱𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪, 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔱, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔰.
To Accu Thailand, our fellow delegates, speakers, youth leaders, partners, and friends across the credit union movement—thank you for the learning, the conversations, the friendships, and the inspiration.
PFCCO National returns home grateful for the opportunity to learn, humbled by the opportunity to contribute, inspired by the people we met, and even more committed to the people we serve.
We came together to confront realities. We return home ready to create better ones.
