THE House of Representatives has recently approved a measure strengthening and expanding the country’s agricultural insurance system to give Filipino farmers and fisherfolk greater protection against typhoons, floods, droughts, diseases and other threats to their livelihoods.
House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III, one of the authors of House Bill No. 10365, stressed on Sunday the importance of the measure given the reality that a single calamity can wipe out not only a farmer’s harvest but also months of investment and the means to begin producing again.
“Kapag tinamaan ng bagyo o baha ang isang magsasaka, hindi lang pananim ang nawawala. Pati puhunan, kita ng pamilya, at kakayahan niyang makapagtanim muli ay nanganganib,” Dy said.
“We need an insurance system that helps our farmers get back on their feet instead of forcing them deeper into debt. This measure will ensure that the people who feed our nation have something to fall back on when disaster strikes.”
HB 10365—passed on third and final reading last Wednesday with 201 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero absentions—seeks to strengthen the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) by expanding its services and the agricultural activities it can insure. The measure broadens coverage to qualified farmers and fisherfolk against losses from natural calamities, fortuitous events, plant, livestock and fish diseases, and pest infestations, and provides the PCIC with a perpetual corporate term subject to performance evaluations.
“Malaki na ang ipinagbago ng agrikultura at ng mga panganib na hinaharap ng ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda. Our agricultural insurance system must keep pace with those realities,” said Dy, who served three terms as governor of Isabela, one of the country’s major food baskets.
“For a farmer, one typhoon can mean losing the crop, the money spent on seeds and fertilizer, months of labor, and the income the family was counting on. Without adequate protection, one disaster can become years of debt.”
Under the bill, PCIC insurance would extend beyond traditional palay and corn crops to high-value crops, livestock, aquaculture and fishery products, agroforestry crops and forest plantations. Coverage may also include agricultural machinery, equipment, transport facilities and related infrastructure, as well as life and accident term insurance for farmers and fisherfolk.
The measure also provides that agricultural insurance should, as far as practicable, cover production inputs, the market-valued labor of farmers or fisherfolk and their households and hired workers, and a portion of the expected yield. The PCIC would also be authorized to offer parametric or index-based and other innovative insurance products.
HB 10365 would allow PCIC to enter into public-private partnerships, joint ventures and similar arrangements with agricultural cooperatives, farmers’ associations and other private-sector participants. It also retains government premium subsidies for qualified subsistence farmers cultivating not more than three hectares, subject to periodic review, while requiring that any premium share paid by them remain reasonably affordable.
The Speaker said the expanded protection would help farmers and fisherfolk recover faster and return to production, strengthening both family livelihoods and the country’s food security.
The House chief pointed out that “insurance is not simply compensation after a loss. It can mean having the resources to plant again, repair equipment, restore a livelihood, and continue producing food for our communities.”
“Kapag may proteksyon ang ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda, mas mabilis silang makakabangon. Kapag mas mabilis silang nakababangon, mas matatag din ang ating produksyon ng pagkain.”
metrosundaily
