Article by:
Nef Luczon
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The Department of Agriculture (DA) 10 (Northern Mindanao) on Wednesday encouraged raisers and farmers to get their hogs insured with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
In an interview, DA-10 Director Carlene Collado pointed out that should hog raisers get affected again by African swine fever (ASF), the indemnification pay would be higher.
"In case (their hogs) getting hit (again) by ASF, each hog (culled) will be paid PHP10,000. For now, only PHP5,000 (per hog) of assistance is given by the DA," he said.
Collado said PHP10,000 is only the minimum, as it can go as much as PHP34,000 based on PCIC's classification.
The PCIC is a government-owned and controlled corporation mandated to implement the government’s agricultural insurance program.
Apart from hog raisers, other farmers planting crops or growing livestock can also be covered by insurance, as the PCIC’s principal mandate is to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural calamities, plant diseases, and pest infestations of their rice, and corn crops as well as other crops.
ASF indemnification
Also on Wednesday, Collado oversaw the distribution of ASF indemnification for affected hog raisers in Barangay Bulua and apologized for the delay due to the processing of the request from the Department of Budget and Management.
The distribution started on Tuesday and will run through October 21. A total of PHP9,730,000 will be given to 443 hog raisers.
Each farmer will receive PHP5,000 for each hog culled from their care.
Dr. Jules Maquiling, DA-10's focal person for ASF response, earlier said the first round of indemnification to the city's hog raisers was done in July this year. Indemnification was also carried out for hog raisers in Misamis Oriental (MisOr) province.
"We requested a last (third) batch worth PHP9.1-million for those hog raisers affected until June 30. There are still few (farmers affected) in CDO (Cagayan de Oro), and the rest are in MisOr," he said in an interview Tuesday.
As early as March 2021, DA-10 has announced the presence of ASF in this city and Misamis Oriental.
On October 14, DA Undersecretary for Consumer and Political Affairs Kristine Y. Evangelista led the distribution of the ASF indemnification fund in Alubijid, Misamis Oriental.
A total of 281 hog raisers from the 10 barangays of the town received the total amount of PHP5.98 million for their 1,197 culled hogs that were affected by the virus.
On October 13, the DA also distributed a total of PHP1.77 million to 86 ASF-affected farmers from five municipalities in Misamis Oriental.
Nine ASF-affected farmers from Manticao received PHP310,000; Initao with PHP945,000 (49 farmers); Libertad with PHP110,000 (5); Opol with PHP385,000 (22); and one farmer from Laguindingan accepted PHP20,000.
Alternative livelihood
When farmers Palcida Daayata and Eclida Serinado had to surrender their hogs to the DA for culling, both resorted to planting crops as an alternative.
Serinado admitted that it was hard at first since the income from selling the hogs contributed to a large portion of their livelihood.
Daayata said they could have sold each suckling for at least PHP3,500 had they grown enough to be sold to markets.
Collado said the agency is in talks with provincial and city veterinary offices to come up with new programs to help the farmers recover fast from their losses.
In Misamis Oriental, farmers affected by ASF began raising ducks and sold duck eggs to alleviate their daily income. (PNA)
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