House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III tells the agricultural sector that the chamber under his leadership will back a better crop insurance system, aside from the provision of zero-interest loans for farmers.
Dy, in a statement on Tuesday, reiterated his stance during the joint hearing of the House committee on agriculture and food and the committee on ways and means.
He said that reforms in crop insurance and government lending programs will ensure “long-term stability in the agriculture sector.”
“Part of the reforms is widening the scope of protection and the access to funding given to our farmers. We want to provide crop insurance for all and to ensure that the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation can process claims within 10 days using our digital system,” he noted.
“We also call on the banks of the government to make loans for agriculture without interest and simpler, by streamlining the documents required so that agrarian reform beneficiaries can get funds easier,” he added.
According to Dy, making crop insurance mandatory and fully digitalized would greatly help farmers recover from losses due to calamities and market shocks.
“We need to unite for our farmers. With the immediate and lasting support and reforms, we can ensure a better future for our farmers’ livelihood and the availability of affordable rice,” he said.
Currently, for the 20th Congress, there are different bills filed seeking to strengthen and expand the services of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
Last June 30, former House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, along with Tingog party-list Reps. Jude Acidre and Andrew Julian Romualdez filed House Bill (HB) No. 14 to expand the PCIC for greater private sector participation in agricultural insurance.
Through this, PCIC coverage will extend beyond traditional crops like rice and corn to include high-value commodities, livestock, aquaculture, farm machinery, and even post-harvest infrastructure.
Dy also filed HB No. 3537, a similar measure, last August 12.
“The PCIC shall provide insurance coverage for palay and corn crops, high-value commercial crops, livestock, aquaculture and fishery products, agroforestry crops and forest plantations; non-crop agricultural assets such as machineries, equipment, transport facilities, and other related infrastructure; and life and accident term insurance coverage for farmers and fisherfolk,” his bill stated.
“Such crop insurance shall cover, in every case, the cost of production inputs, the value of the labor of the farmers or fisherfolk, and members of their households including the value of the labor of hired workers, and a portion of the projected value of the crops […], however, shall exclude losses arising from avoidable risks emanating from or due to the negligence, malfeasance, or fraud committed by the insured or any member of the immediate farm household or employee, or the failure of the insured to follow proven farm practices,” it added.
The speaker attended the hearing on the rice importation moratorium, announcing on the onset that at least one million rice farmers will get a P7,000 cash aid for 2026, with an allocation reserved under the proposed 2026 national budget.
He revealed this after saying that the Department of Agriculture (DA) needs to implement systems properly so that the country would not be reliant on importation.
However, a farmer from Nueva Ecija told the committees that what they need is higher buying prices of palay and not another wave of cash assistance, saying that the practice of providing aid makes it seem that they are beggars.
According to Danilo Bolos, they would not need the P7,000 cash aid pushed by the speaker if the government addresses extremely low buying prices for palay — ranging from P8 to P10 per kilogram.
Bolos said they are forced to dig into their savings or ask for loans since they have invested at least P14 to P15 per kilogram, only for palay to be bought at low prices.
Source - News Info
