PCIC allots P1.65-B aid for typhoon-hit farmers
The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) will release about P1.65 billion worth of insurance to farmers whose crops, particularly rice and corn, were badly hit by typhoon “Ompong,” its top official said on Tuesday.
In a statement, PCIC President Atty. Jovy C. Bernabe said about 262,057 farmers who planted rice, corn and high value crops in the six regions affected by Ompong could count on the “speedy release” of insurance money from the government.
The PCIC, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), is tasked to provide affordable and accessible agricultural insurance on crops and other agricultural products.
“We will speed up the adjustment/inspection of the farms and process the claims immediately,” Bernabe said.
“Our regional offices are now functioning 24 hours daily to ensure non-stop processing of the huge number of claims and financial documents,” he added.
Based on the PCIC’s preliminary report to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, the corporation has allocated P585 million to heavily affected Region II (Cagayan Valley) where damage amounted to P13.8 billion, affecting a total of 303,827 farmers.
Following this is the P510 million allocation for Region I (Ilocos) where 18,050 farmers were affected and incurred 260,178 metric tons (MT) production loss valued at P5.8 billion.
Bernabe said most of the affected crops were in their reproductive stage, which brought farmers more problems that could put them under financial strain if they could not replant as soon as possible.
Latest data from the the DA-Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Operation Center showed rice accounted for the largest share of losses in production at P765,484 MT, followed by corn and high value crops at 496,881 MT and 153,091 MT, respectively.
“We have allocated sufficient funds to help farmers recover their investment after Ompong damaged their farm lands,” Bernabe said.
“It’s important that we give timely assistance so farmers can replant quickly so they can bounce back from their losses more easily and that we will have a stable food supply,” he added.
Meanwhile, Piñol recently admitted that the DA had insufficient funds to rehabilitate the agriculture areas and provinces badly-hit by typhoon Ompong.
“As of the moment, the only money we have for interventions would be the P600 million as our quick reaction fund, our crop insurance in the amount of P1.6 billion, our emergency loan program in the amount of P880 million,” he said during a press conference on Monday in Quezon City.
The DA still has to quantify the seeds and other interventions to affected farmers nationwide, he added.
“The fund is not enough which is why we’re creating a master plan which we will submit to the Office of the President [on September 25]because we are hoping that we will be able to appeal to Congress to allocate funds,” Piñol said.
He said the DA could ask for a supplemental budget of which the amount will be based on the damage assessment of the department.
“The initial estimate is [to have]P5 billion as an immediate intervention,” said Piñol.
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