ILOILO City — Nearly 165,000 rice and corn farmers across Western Visayas are now covered by a multibillion-peso government-backed insurance safety net, giving the region’s agricultural sector a financial buffer against natural calamities, pests, diseases and other threats to farm production.
The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) Region 6 said 164,966 farmers, including those in Negros Occidental, were insured for the first cropping season of 2026 under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).
Rice farmers account for the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries, with 149,389 farmers cultivating 120,058.88 hectares covered by approximately P3 billion in insurance.
The national government provided P300.147 million in premium subsidies for the rice insurance coverage.
Another 15,577 corn farmers cultivating 17,476.43 hectares were provided P436.910 million in insurance coverage, backed by P43.691 million in government premium subsidies.
Combined, the insurance protection covers more than 137,000 hectares of rice and corn farms across the region.
With extreme weather and other risks threatening agricultural production, PCIC-6 regional manager Eva Ulie Laud stressed the importance of farmers registering and keeping their records updated in the RSBSA.
“This is crucial not only for crop insurance but also for accessing various services available to subsistence farmers,” Laud emphasized.
“I urge them to register in order to enjoy the full benefits offered by the agriculture sector,” she added.
Laud said most long-time farmers and fisherfolk are already registered, but new farmers, young people entering agriculture and other recent entrants to the sector must register or update their information through the Department of Agriculture and their respective local government units.
Registration must be done individually even if a farmer belongs to an agricultural association.
ZERO PREMIUM
Eligible farmers do not have to pay premiums because these are fully subsidized by the national government under the General Appropriations Act.
PCIC offers seven insurance product lines covering rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock, fisheries, non-crop agricultural assets, and credit and life term insurance.
High-value crop insurance covers commodities such as vegetables and bananas, while livestock insurance provides protection for animals such as pigs and chickens.
Fisheries insurance covers fishers and commodities such as tilapia and milkfish, as well as motorized and non-motorized fishing boats.
Farm equipment and facilities may also be protected through non-crop agricultural assets insurance.
Farmers and fisherfolk seeking free insurance must first register or update their information in the RSBSA master list through their LGU or municipal agriculture office.
They can then submit their insurance applications through their Municipal Agriculture Officer. PCIC personnel regularly visit local offices to collect applications and enter them into the system.
REPORT LOSSES FAST
Insured farmers whose farms suffer damage exceeding 10 percent because of natural calamities, pests or diseases must immediately file a Notice of Loss with the nearest PCIC office, Provincial Extension Office or LGU.
PCIC will then dispatch an adjuster to assess and verify the damage.
Once a claim is validated, indemnity payments may be released through checks or digital channels such as GCash and Palawan Express.
The insurance program is intended to give farmers and fisherfolk a financial cushion after crop and agricultural losses, allowing them to recover and resume production instead of bearing the full cost of disasters and other farm risks./PN
