Crop insurance operations in the country benefited thousands of farmers in 2016, initial reports from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) show.
In a report to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, PCIC President Jovy Bernabe said they had paid P1.6 Billion to farmers and fisherfolk for damages to their standing crops and properties caused by the El Niño Phenomenon and several typhoons and flooding that occurred in 2016. It was the second time that PCIC shelled out indemnity payment at the billion-peso level. The indemnity payment was 16% more than the P1.379 Billion paid in 2015.
The payment allowed 234,681 farmers and fisherfolk to restart their operations after farm damage, minimize financial losses, and prevent significant disruption in the supply of food in the market.
These farmers and fisherfolk were among the 1.075 Million insured by the PCIC in 2016. Collectively, the insured farmers operated 919,814.81 hectares, an expansion of 7.52% from the total farm area of 855,504.53 hectares covered by PCIC’s services in 2016.
In terms of premium income, the PCIC generated P2.587 Billion, while its total amount of insurance cover reached P41.002 Billion.
PCIC’s solid operation during the political transition year gave it a strong head start in pushing one of the Department of Agriculture’s 10-point agenda, namely: easy access to financing program for farmers, fishermen and agriculture and fisheries stakeholders.
Fittingly, PCIC has set the following key strategic moves as instructed by Sec. Piñol to guide its operation this year: intensifying information and education campaigns through the conduct of trainings and seminars on PCIC products and seminars among farmers and fisherfolk as well as radio and television campaigns; enhancing insurance operations by deploying smart-phone technology to enable simultaneous verification of reported damages and processing of claims; establishing more extension offices; and improving organizational capacity, including embarking on renewed legislative campaign to expand its capitalization.
(DA-PCIC)
