A vegetable farmer in Benguet (File photon by EV ESPIRITU / Inquirer Northern Luzon)
MANILA, Philippines — Farmer and fisherfolk party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee has filed a bill seeking to make crop insurance mandatory to ensure that farmers would be compensated for their losses due to disasters and calamities.
In filing House Bill No. 1298, or the proposed Essential Crop Insurance Act of 2022, the Agri party-list representative said, “It behooves Congress to enact laws that will increase our country’s resilience against the effects of climate change.”
According to Lee, his proposed measure, which would amend the charter of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., looks into “protecting our farmers of essential crops. Foremost among these is rice, which is the singular, most important crop in our country not only in terms of consumption , but also its share in our national economy in terms of livelihood it provides to our countrymen.”
He included corn, cassava, coconut, sugarcane, and vegetables among other essential crops.
“A strong typhoon can easily wipe out months of hard work and deprive our farmers not only of their harvest for the Filipino markets but, most importantly, their chance to support their family,” he pointed out.
—JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE
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