Marcos brings back state crop insurer to DA

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has issued an executive order transferring the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) back to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

To recall, in September 2021, then-President Rodrigo Duterte transferred the PCIC under the supervision of the Department of Finance (DOF) in order to effectively perform its mandate of providing insurance protection to farmers.

Nearly three years later, Marcos signed Executive Order  No. 60 which directed the state crop insurer’s transfer back to its original parent agency.

“The PCIC is hereby attached to the DA for policy and program coordination,” Marcos said in EO No. 60 dated May 13.

The PCIC was created in 1995 as a government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC) tasked to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural disasters, plant diseases and pest infestation.

The GOCC was originally attached to the DA.

In returning the PCIC under the DA’s wings, Marcos emphasized the need for “a strong organizational link between the PCIC and DA…to enhance agricultural insurance protection programs highly responsive to the needs of small farmers and fisherfolk and other agricultural stakeholders, with policies and programs aimed at ensuring food security and modernization of agriculture.”

Despite returning the PCIC to the Agriculture Department, the President deemed that it is no longer necessary for the Agriculture chief to get one of the seven seats on the state crop insurer’s board.

Marcos also removed the seats of the Finance chief and of the Government Service Insurance System in the PCIC board.

Meanwhile, the presidents of PCIC and Land Bank of the Philippines will keep their seats on the crop insurer’s board.

One board seat each is reserved for the Executive Director of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council of the DA and the representative of the private insurance industry —who will still be nominated by the Finance secretary.

Moreover, three board seats, instead of just one, were assigned to representatives of the farmers sector.

The EO No. 60 said the appointment or designation of PCIC board chairman will have to follow rules under the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.

“We are pleased that the PCIC is back under the wings of the DA. This gives us the scope to assure farmers, livestock and poultry raisers, aquaculturists, and others in production-side so we could shield them from losses that may be caused by disasters, pests and diseases,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

Tiu Laurel said the safety net provided by PCIC would hopefully encourage more Filipinos to engage in agriculture and create a new generation of farmers. — RSJ/KG, GMA Integrated News