Crop insurance GOCC urged to modernize
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said that it is seeking to modernize the operations of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) to better support local producers.
“PCIC should digitalize its processes, upgrade its technologies, and develop insurance products that will provide better protection for its clientele,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday.
In May, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order No. 60, which transferred the control and supervision of the PCIC back to the DA from the Department of Finance.
Mr. Laurel added that modernizing will allow the PCIC to offer more affordable insurance products, and pointed to the crop insurance systems of Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam as possible models.
He said that the PCIC should also enhance its reinsurance practices to better manage its risk profile.
He urged the use of crop insurance to facilitate farmer access to financial services, by reassuring lending institutions that the collateral they hold will have the benefit of insurance cover.
The PCIC has an annual budget of P4.5 billion. It indemnifies farmers, fisherfolks, and livestock raisers who sustain losses from natural calamities, diseases, pest infestation, and other risks.
For 2024, the PCIC aims to increase its coverage to 1.2 million farmers, 21,000 livestock raisers, and fisheries stakeholders. It processed 744,000 claims in 2023. — Adrian H. Halili