Farmers groups and representatives from various government agencies and the private sector convened on Tuesday/March 14 in the National Stakeholders’ Forum here in the hope of encouraging more lawmakers to extend the service of the Weather Index-Based Insurance (WIBI) Mindanao project, which runs through June this year.
Launched in June 2015, WIBI Mindanao is a project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (DA-PCIC), in collaboration with several other agencies. It is targeted at reducing poverty in areas that are vulnerable to risks brought about by climate change.
WIBI is a form of insurance under the program called “Scaling-up Risk Transfer Mechanisms for Climate Vulnerable Agriculture-based Communities in Mindanao”, which is designed to address two types of climate risks, such as the increasing variability in climate and climate change-induced natural disasters.
Resilience to such risks among vulnerable agriculture-based rural communities in Mindanao is strengthened through climate risk transfer mechanisms and measures that enhance productivity.
The other collaborating agencies are the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Philippine Insurance Commission (PIC), Agricultural Credit and Policy Council (ACPC), Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool (AGFP), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), DA Regional Field Units (DA-RFUs), Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and local government units (LGUs) in Northern Mindanao and Davao.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Agribusiness Bernadette Romulo Puyat asked lawmakers, private sector, and other stakeholders to expand coverage of the project to national level.
In September last year, Bohol 3rd District Representative Arthur C. Yap, a former Agriculture Secretary, filed House Bill No. 3560 or an “Act mandating the PCIC to offer index-based insurance coverage and allowing it to engage in reinsurance.”
Yap also sought P10-billlion in additional funding for the PCIC above its current budget of P2 billion. In addition, the bill provides for the PCIC to impose higher penalties on spurious claims and to enter into crop reinsurance services.
Since farmers belong to the most vulnerable sector during the typhoon season, Yap stressed the need for having a crop insurance system in the country.
“With crop insurance, we are limiting the risk from the LGUs. Hence, the government can now focus on other way of assisting the people,” Yap said.
“This major policy initiative is a key driver to further streamline the product improvement of WIBI and to ultimately scale out to greater geographical areas with a larger number of smallholder farmers and a greater variety of crops beyond rice and corn,” Yap said.
He also urged the Senate to create a counterpart bill which would allow the PCIC to engage in reinsurance and enable it to fulfill President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to subsidize farmers’ crop insurance.
“Even if there is a map saying what farmers should plant, if there is no financing, how can we force them to plant?” Yap stressed.
Sen. Cynthia Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, has said in a letter that the Senate is now reviewing the possible extension of the program and the crafting a new crop insurance system.
She supports any agricultural insurance, Villar said, as she views it as a practical way of addressing farmers’ need.
There are 2,413 farmers who are currently enrolled in the WIBI and 2,743 hectares that have been insured by PCIC. Records show that PCIC has released 178 payouts worth a total of P1,483,833.36 or $29,700.
Meanwhile, PCIC President Atty. Jovy Bernabe urged farmers to encourage their co-farmers to enroll in various crop insurance programs under the DA, and assured stakeholders of improved service, including the use of modern technology to give farmers easy access to claims.
Recently, PCIC launched its own smart phone application, enabling claims adjusters to assess damaged cropland in the field and immediately transmit claims assessment to the PCIC regional offices.
“With this we can guarantee claims within 24 hours,” Bernabe said. (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)
Reference:
Angelica C. Barlis
Communications Officer
UNDP-WIBI Mindanao Project
Contact No. 0977-8262929
angelica.barlis@undp.org
