The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (DA-PCIC) has relaxed conditions for paying hog raisers for their losses under its insurance program for hogs, in support of the Duterte government’s initiative to revitalize hog production amid the African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic.
In its regular meeting on Wednesday, 24 February 2021, the PCIC Board of Directors approved the DA proposal to pay losses resulting from government-ordered culling or slaughter of insured hogs, and raise the payable amount up to 100 percent of the insurance cover or the total sum insured.
Standard insurance industry policy does not include government-ordered disposal of stocks when epidemics occur among the compensable risks, while indemnity payments are normally pegged at a maximum of 60 percent of TSI.
“Bold policy actions are needed in periods of adversity like the hog industry is in now, and we thank the PCIC for this quick response that sends the message the DA and its family of agencies are here to help our stakeholders, particularly the hog industry, build resilience and sustainability,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.
The move is expected to help encourage the raising of over 10 million heads of swine among commercial and backyard raisers. The stocks to be insured will be a mix of fatteners and breeders, including grandparent stock, among the former, and fatteners and breeders, among the latter.
Backyard hog raisers currently receive free insurance, provided they are listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), the country’s database of bona fide subsistence farmers and fisherfolk. But they will be covered by the relaxed provision on indemnity payment and culling or emergency slaughter. Moreover, the Board directed the PCIC to increase the number of backyard hog raisers to be provided insurance coverage.
These enhanced insurance policy features for hogs will remain in place until such time that the industry shall have stabilized or a vaccine or other veterinary solutions will have been developed for ASF.
Consistent with the DA policy on biosafety, the PCIC will require commercial and backyard raisers to adhere to prescribed biosafety protocols. These include cleaning, disinfecting and training in biosafety measures as contained in the DA Administrative Order No. 6, issued on February 6, 2021, entitled “Guidelines on the Implementation of the Recovery, Rehabilitation and Repopulation Assistance Program for ASF-affected and Non-ASF Affected Areas.”
This recent PCIC action follows the agency’s quick response to the ASF in March 2020, when it included the virulent disease as among the compensable risks of the livestock insurance line.
The DA-PCIC is the sole agricultural insurance firm in the country. It will mark its 40th year of operation this year.
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Reference:
Mr. Renato Viado
Manager, Actuarial, DA-PCIC
09171427887
