36,000 Cebu farmers to get insurance Capitol will also give insurance for their crops

CEBU, Philippines - At least 36,000 farmers will receive insurance benefits as the Cebu Provincial Government is set to insure them under the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) this year.

Provincial Agriculturist Necias Vicoy announced the news to the town and city mayors during the Provincial Development Council meeting held last Wednesday at the Capitol Social Hall.

During the cropping season of August to September, Vicoy said, 25,010 farmers and fishermen were insured while another 11,088 beneficiaries will be covered in the cropping season of January to February.

PCIC Vice President Antonio Uy was scheduled to go to Bantayan Island yesterday to insure the 1,066 beneficiaries in the municipalities of Madridejos, Bantayan and Sta. Fe. Aside from the farmers, the coverage also includes their crops, farm animals and fishing boats or banca.

Apart from the agro-fishery sector, the Province also transferred the insurance coverage of 45,103 barangay officials, lupons, nutrition scholars, health workers, tanods and other volunteer barangay workers from the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) to the PCIC.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said this is because PCIC offered insurance benefits of P50,000 or higher than the P40,000 of GSIS. PCIC also offered P57,000 insurance benefits to the farmers and fisher folks and they can also release money immediately in two weeks time.

Around 186,000 farmers and fisherfolks are insured under the PCIC nationwide and Cebu’s number will be 30 percent of the total coverage of the PCIC, Uy said. — (FREEMAN)