Luzon farmers get P24M in crop insurance

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (DA-PCIC) has paid an initial P24 million as crop insurance to more than 2,700 Luzon farmers whose palay and corn crops were damaged by typhoons ‘Pedring’ and ‘Quiel.’

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and PCIC president Jovy Bernabe distributed the crop indemnity checks to farmer-beneficiaries during consultations with typhoon-affected farmers and local officials in Isabela, Bulacan and Pampanga, as part of the DA chief’s recent three-day visit of eight provinces in Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon.

With the indemnity payments, Alcala said the insured farmers will be able to recover their losses and replant again, and participate in the DA’s Quick-Turn Around (QTA) scheme for irrigated areas and ratooning for rainfed areas.

For his part, Bernabe said the beneficiaries are mostly members of organized farmers’ cooperatives and groups, including irrigator’s associations.

The initial batch of recipients are mostly from Cauayan, Isabela, where 1,470 farmers received a total of P14.7M-worth of indemnity payment.

In San Luis, Pampanga, 901 farmers got P5M, while 358 farmers from Malolos, Bulacan received P4.3M in crop insurance payments.  

The P24-M initial payment is part of the total P334M that the DA-PCIC will indemnify to farmers in Luzon who insured their rice, corn and fish stocks during the current main season, said Bernabe.

He assured farmers that the PCIC will process and pay their crop insurance claims in a speedy and efficient manner. The agency is fast-tracking indemnity payments to enable farmers recover their losses and replant again, Bernabe said.