THE Department of Finance (DOF) will now take over the management of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
President Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 148 authorizing the transfer of the government- owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to DOF.
The transfer, which was recommended by the DA, DOF, and the Governance Commission for GOCCs, aims to ensure that operations of the PCIC will be aligned with “national developmental policies and the government’s overall fiscal plan.”
In its website, PCIC said its principal mandate is to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural calamities, plant diseases and pest infestations.
“In order for the PCIC to effectively perform its mandate of providing insurance protection to farmers in the most cost-efficient manner, there is a need to align its plans and programs with national development policies and the government’s overall fiscal plan,” Duterte said.
EO No. 148 also reorganized the members of the PCIC Board of Directors, which will now be chaired by the Secretary of DOF, with the DA Secretary as vice chairman.
Its members include the president of PCIC, the president of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), and the president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
It will also include representatives from the private insurance industry to be nominated by the Secretary of Finance, representatives from the subsistence farmers’s sector, preferably representing agrarian reform beneficiaries/cooperatives/associations, who shall be selected and nominated by the different farmers’ organizations and/or cooperatives.
With the DOF-led board, Duterte said PCIC assets and resources can be used effectively, and its liabilities including subsidies will be “incurred through prudent measures.”