AKLAN – She served the National and Local Government as a dedicated, hardworking Municipal Agriculturist Extension Worker of the Municipality of Lezo for 42 years, before she retired in 2010. And Emelinda Revestir-de la Cruz has proven herself to be a humble, honest and with high integrity in championing services both in government and private capacity to serve the marginal sector – farmers/fisherfolks through cooperativism.

As a Cooperative Leader, and under her active leadership, she organized and developed the Lezo Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Lezo MPC) in 1991 into a community-based agri-cooperative of Aklan Province and made possible the merger of 6 Samahang Nayons of Lezo in 1993, with initial capitalization of P18,900 and 29 members.  

Today, Lezo MPC has grown to P104M assets and 4,100 members, generates regular/seasonal employment to 30 individuals and provides several economic activities such as; Savings, Lending, General Merchandise, Palay/Rice & Farm Inputs Trading, Pre & Post harvest Facilities, Catering Services, Airline/2Go Ticketing, Allied Services and various Community/Environmental projects. 

For almost 3 decades of cooperative endeavors, Lezo MPC has also become a Multi-Awarded Cooperative in Region VI for 2017-18, winning the Gawad Pitak Group (Visayas) Level Awardee from the Landbank of the Philippines, Gawad Saka Regional Awardee for Outstanding Small Farmers Organization, and Gawad Parangal 3rd Runner-Up Most Outstanding Primary Cooperative (Medium Category). As such, the Awardee was also given meritorious recognitions as Outstanding University of the Philippines Visayas Alumni Association, Outstanding Professional Award in Agriculture and Forestry in 2018.