The transfer of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.that caters to farmers’ claims for damaged standing crops and harvested crops destroyed by typhoons and floods to the Department of Agriculture (DA) is a wise move.
The DA is the agency that understands the farmers’ conditions best and how crop losses affect their very subsistence, not the Department of Finance.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. has ordered the transfer of PCIC to DA to make it more responsive to the needs of small farmers, fisherfolk and other agricultural stakeholders, said the Presidential Communications Office in a press release on Saturday.
The President had ordered a review and then issued Executive Order 60 dated May 13, transferring PCIC to DA.
“A strong organizational link between the PCIC and DA is necessary to enhance agricultural insurance protection program highly- responsive to the needs of small farmers and fisherfolk and other agricultural stakeholders, with policies and programs aimed at ensuring food security and modernization of the agricultural sector,” he said in the executive order.
The PCIC is a government-owned or controlled corporation (GOCC) tasked to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural disasters, plant diseases, and pest infestation.
EO 60 reorganizes the PCIC Board to include the respective presidents of the Land Bank of the Philippines and PCIC; the executive director of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council; and a representative of the private insurance industry appointed by the President upon nomination by the Secretary of Finance.
The board shall also include three representatives of the subsistence farmers’ sector, preferably representing agrarian reform beneficiaries, cooperatives or associations from Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, appointed by the President upon their nomination by different farmer organizations and/or cooperatives, the PNA said.
The appointment of the chairperson, vice chair, and other officers of the board of directors is stipulated by Republic Act 10149, or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.
The Administrative Code of 1987 mandates the DA to promote the country’s agricultural development by providing policy framework, public investments, and support services necessary for the advancement of the agricultural sector.
PCIC also provides protection against damage to/loss of non-crop agricultural assets including but not limited to machineries, equipment, transport facilities and other related infrastructures due to peril/s insured against.
The Philippines is vulnerable to natural disasters that devastate crops and cause miseries to farmers and lenders of farm credit.
Because of small landholdings, the result of these losses is devastating to farmers’ finances.
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