PCIC: Higher budget will insure more farmers

THE Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) wants to help more farmers by seeking an additional P1 billion in its 2026 budget allocation.

For the past four years, PCIC President Jovy Bernabe said the agency has been working with a P4.5-billion funding from the General Appropriations Act. An addition of P1 billion, he explained, will enable the PCIC to expand its insurance program to cover 600,000 more farmers — or a total of 4.8 million farmers from last year's 4.2 million.

Bernabe pointed out that the PCIC's mother agency, the Department of Agriculture, knows and supports their request for extra subsidy. He acknowledged, however, that it would all depend on fiscal space and the approval of the Department of Budget and Management, Congress and the Office of the President.

One thing going for the PCIC, Bernabe said, is that its budget utilization rate has been 100 percent since he assumed office in 2008.

The agency has also been utilizing geotagging and satellite mapping in its process of insuring farmers nationwide. Physical oculars take time, especially in far-flung areas, but with geotagging, processing insurance claims is faster and accurately measures the areas through satellite imaging.

The PCIC's charter stipulates the release of insurance claims within 60 days, but Bernabe said their self-imposed deadline is only 20 days. And with geotagging now in use, the process can even be as short as 10 days — except during calamities.

Geotagging — or adding geographic identification to photographs, videos, websites and text messages — saves money and resources, which translates to more insurance coverage for farmers, Bernabe said.

It is being implemented on 20 percent or 200,000 hectares of the 2 million hectares covered by PCIC's insurance program.