PCIC sets aside P732 million for Lando devastation

THE Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) said on Thursday it has set aside P732 million as risk or insurance cover for farmers affected by Typhoon Lando (international code name Koppu). PCIC President Jovy C. Bernabe told reporters at a briefing the agency’s rapid assessment in seven regions and 34 provinces showed that about 98,600 hectares of insured farms owned and operated by 110,000 farmers were damaged by the typhoon. Bernabe said the total indemnity payment required to compensate losses incurred by the farmers was estimated at P732 million. "About 110,000 farmers from the rice, corn and high-value crops sector will benefit from this crop insurance. But 98 percent of the indemnity will go to rice,” Bernabe said. Based on the same PCIC report, the rice sector bore the brunt of the damage affecting 89,786 farmers tilling 77,165 hectares sustaining estimated loss of P513 million. The high-value crops sector followed, with 17,793 farmers and 16,863 hectares reporting estimated losses of over P116 million. Corn came in third, with 391 farmers and over 415 hectares affected and total estimated damage of P1.64 million. The report said Region 2 topped the list in terms of estimated loss reaching nearly P385.68 million, followed by Region 1 at P126.40 million. Estimated losses in Region 4A was at P81.11 million; Region 2 at P66.65 million; Region 4B at P37.80 million; and Cordillera Administrative Region at P14.59 million. PCIC Business Development and Marketing Department Manager Rodelia A. Pagaddu said each farmer will receive between P10,000 and P15,000 per hectare, depending on the severity of damage. Bernabe also estimated each farmer should receive an average of P6,700, except in Nueva Ecija where each farmer were to receive an average of P20,000. "The average insurance for each farmer in Nueva Ecija reached P20,000 because their crops are almost totally damaged after being submerged in floodwaters,” he said. According to Bernabe, farmers listed at the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Registry System on Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) will get free crop insurance. He said farmers listed in the registry are poor small-scale tillers. Other farmers not registered in RSBSA may also avail themselves of the insurance but must pay subsidized premium, he said. Bernabe said farmers who want to avail themselves of the insurance must submit a notice of failure to the PCIC. Crop insurance had been identified as a key climate change-adaptation measure by the Department of Agriculture which also exercises supervision over the PCIC. The PCIC said from less than half-a-million covered farmers some three years ago, it has expanded the number of insured farmers to 917,814 by end of last year and plans to increase further its coverage beyond the 1-million mark this year. Bernabe added the PCIC’s budget increased to P1.6 billion in 2016 from P113 million six years ago. The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura earlier urged the government to increase the budget for crop insurance tenfold to P16 billion from P1.6 billion to protect all farmers against losses brought about by natural calamities. Pagaddu said, quoting a Philippine Institute for Development Studies report, the total appropriation needed to provide insurance cover for poor farmers under the RSBSA ranges from P8 billion to 10 billion.//