The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) said in a press statement that to date it has already approved claims amounting to P9.2 million. Charlito Brilleta, PCIC regional manager, said that these are indemnity payments for 1,700 claims which is 58 percent higher than that of the same period last year. “The average monthly claim last year reached only P3.8 million,” Brilleta said, adding that they are still processing more than 2,000 claims filed in December 2015 and January 2016. “We are still verifying these claims which may total to P45.217 million,” he further said during the meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Brilleta said that the claims they received during the first two months of 2016 involved damages due to drought. “Last year most of the claims were due to pests and plant diseases, except for the last quarter which were due to El Nino,” Brilleta said. He added that the P9.2 million indemnity payment covered 1,518 hectares of rice lands, with the City of Passi having the most number of claims by 424 farmers. The town of Lemery came next with 216 farmer-claimants, Oton with 200; Duenas, with 123; Banate, 105; and, Sara, 95. Last year, Passi City was also highest with 1,158 claimants, then Duenas with 1,028; and, Banate, 775. Farmers eligible to claim crop insurance are listed under the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA). Meanwhile, the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has approved a budget of P33.7 million as prepared by the Task Force El Nino, for programs and projects to address the impact of the dry spell. Source - news.pia.gov.ph