DA-PCIC to pay typhoon 'Mina' affected farmers P24-M crop insurance claims

The Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (DA-PCIC) is set to pay an initial P24.166 million as insurance claims to about 13,000 farmers mostly in Luzon, whose insured palay and corn crops were damaged by typhoon 'Mina.'

In a report to Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, PCIC President Jovy C. Bernabe assured affected rice and corn farmers that the PCIC is fast-tracking the processing of crop insurance claims.

Bernabe said that of the initial insurance claims, P22.386M will be paid to palay farmers, while P1.708M will be for corn farmers.

Flood and heavy rains spawned by typhoon ‘Mina’ last week of August affected hundreds of hectares of farmlands in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon regions.

Citing report from PCIC field officers, Bernabe said of the affected areas, 27,416 hectares were insured, of which 27,190 hectares were planted to palay, and only 226 hectares were planted to corn.

The total insured farmers reached 12,778, of whom 12,627 are palay farmers, while 152 are corn farmers.

Damage on insured palay was reported in nine provinces, namely: Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Apayao, Nueva Ecija and Aurora. The insured corn farms are in Pangasinan and Cagayan.

Bernabe said the fast processing of crop insurance claims is a result of its initiatives to streamlining the agency's systems and procedures, which were recently certified as compliant with the international standards of excellence, and as such the PCIC has been conferred a corresponding ISO certification. Norman R. Cajucom, PCIC Acting Senior Vice President, DA-PCIC