FICOBank Bids Farewell to Its Founding Chairman

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Yes, Shakespeare has said it. Today, hundreds of FICOBankers feel its throb, as the departure of the first-and-longest-reigning Board Chairman of FICOBank, Mr. Pacifico B. Miranda, Sr., is colored with intense sorrow, but juxtaposed with a sense of pleasure and gratitude for what he has left behind and has done to the Bank.

The entire FICOBank family is grieving for the loss of a great man––the person behind the drive that took it from the realm of dream to the solid ground of reality. Bringing the cooperators’ aspiration for the Bank to fruition is not an ordinary task. It requires not only breadth, depth and flair, but dedication, hard work and sacrifice as well. The development, growth and success of FICOBank would have not been made possible, if he didn’t spearhead the arduous tasks of groundworking and legworking and pave the way for its long-term survival and sustainability.

In retrospect, Mr. Miranda took the lead in sowing a tiny seed in the field of banking. This tiny seed of FICOBanking eventually grew and became a robust tree with brawny trunk and sturdy branches. After three decades, it turned out to be a valuable community asset. Indeed, he was a prime mover and a vital cog of today’s prominent and premier coop bank in the country. He was renowned for his distinct leadership style and respected for his strong beliefs, lofty goals and firm decisions—personal- and organizational-wise. Leaving behind a great and undying legacy, he joined his Creator at the ripe age of 80 on January 17, 2011.  

“I wish to be remembered whenever the name of FICOBank is heard. I wish to be remembered as the simple and first Chairman of this Bank, who never gave up when the Bank is in need [the most].” These were the last remarkable words and succinct statement that he conveyed to his FICOBank family through his piece in the first-ever commemorative book of the Bank. Of course, he did not just leave his corporate family with a mere message, but left it with the best-in-its-class legacy—a stronger, bigger and better FICOBank.

Wherever he is, he’s certainly happy and contented with what he had accomplished in his 80-year existence in this world, particularly in his prime years. He was very fortunate to have existed this far to witness the dreams for the Bank turned into reality. Although he’s now gone, his memoir will never be forgotten, as it will forever be etched in the minds of all FICOBankers and will always remain in the pages of FICOBank’s history and archives.

The members of his FICOBank family are perpetually indebted to him for giving them once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and privilege to be where they are now—FICOBank. Their love for the Bank, which he had initiated in 1976, nurtured up to 1986 and supported beyond his tenure as Chairman, will go on through the “sands of time.”

The directors, officers and employees of FICOBank bade their final adieu to their much-loved founding Chairman on January 22, 2011.