PCIC to pay P161M to NLuzon insured farmers

The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) on Friday said it is paying some P161.41 million in indemnities to 17,200 insured rice and corn farmers affected by typhoon Juan. In a report to the Agriculture Department, PCIC president Jovy Bernabe said Central Luzon farmers will receive P86.729 million, Cagayan Valley farmers with P45.714 million, and Ilocos farmers with P25.046 million. “This will enable them to recoup their losses, buy seeds and inputs, and replant again," Bernabe said in a statement. The PCIC will start distributing indemnity checks to some affected farmers within 15 to 20 days, he said. Bernabe pointed out that the state-owned insurance firm supports the proposal of Sen. Ralph Recto to require compulsory crop insurance coverage to agrarian reform beneficiaries. Under Senate Bill 2131, the Finance Department and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will give farmer beneficiaries full-crop insurance coverage in cases of typhoons, floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, plant diseases, and pest infestations. The bill, filed by Recto, says that the insurance coverage would be in place from the planting season to harvest time. Meanwhile, Bernabe said the PCIC was able to double the number of farmers covered by crop insurance for the past two years. The PCIC subsidizes almost 60 percent of the premium for crop insurance to make the program more affordable to farmers, he said. — JE, GMANews.TV