The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) in Antique is urging farmers to immediately report hog mortalities due to diseases, including African swine fever (ASF), a day after or within seven days of the death to claim free insurance. ‘The PCIC provides swine insurance to farmers, but they need to report the mortalities within seven days so it could be accepted and processed,’ Clogene Galuego, head of the PCIC Antique, said in an interview Wednesday. The free insurance is for farmers registered with the online Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and have enrolled their hogs 21 days before their death. He added that from June 23, 2023, until Wednesday, they have already received 135 insurance claims from ASF-affected hog raisers in the municipalities of Hamtic and San Jose de Buenavista through their respective Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAOs) consisting of 25 breeders and 110 fatteners. The municipality of Sibalom has 19 claims due to pneumonia. The local government unit (LGU) of Sibalom has not requested the Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) or the Department of Agriculture (DA) to conduct serum tests to determine if swine deaths are due to ASF infection. Galuego said that a farmer is allowed to insure up to 20 heads with a coverage of PHP10,000 per head for fattener while for breeder is 10 heads with PHP14,500 per head. ‘The PCIC allows insurance claims of up to PHP200,000 per farmer or household,’ he added. They are now waiting for the claims to be processed and approved since the documents are already with their regional office in Iloilo City, he added. Galuego added that MAOs or affected farmers are requested to inform the PCIC office ahead of the culling so they can send a representative to document. In claiming their insurance, farmers have to submit the ASF incident report issued by the Bureau of Animal Industry or the positive result of the blood test, LGU-issued Executive Order containing culling as among the preventive measures, livestock death certificate, and pictures. PCIC is a state-owned agricultural insurer committed to developing and implementing insurance programs highly responsive to the needs of the small farmers, fisherfolk and other agricultural stakeholders
Source: Philippines News Agency