Senate to pass farmers’ calamity insurance
DAVAO DEL NORTE — Senator Cynthia Villar on Monday morning announced that the Senate would soon pass a measure to provide calamity insurance for Filipino farmers.
Calling the measure as the Free Index Base Crop Insurance, Villar said the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food would soon be bringing this to the Senate plenary.
“Our farmers would then have a sense of pride. They would no long queue for calamity assistance but instead, would go to an insurance company,” she said in her address at the 51st Founding Day Anniversary Program of Davao del Norte.
Citing such farm insurance measure as first time in the country, Villar said her committee has consulted a number of experts “but we are on the final stages of bringing to the (Senate) plenary what we call the Free Index Base Crop Insurance for all farmers in the Philippines,” she said.
Meanwhile, Villar lauded Provincial Governor Anthony G. del Rosario for integrating into his development plans the prospect of enrolling all rice farms with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
She appreciated efforts of the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte to strike a balance between agriculture and environment saying “agriculture will not be viable without sustainable natural resources”.
The Senator emphasized the importance of sustainable agriculture along with her aspiration to elevate the standard of living of Filipino farmers and fisherfolks, before she ends her term in the Senate.