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Registered tobacco farmers get more gov’t benefits
THE tobacco farmers can now depend on government support for free crop in¬surance coverage from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), loan assistance from the Agri¬culture and Fishery Financ¬ing Program (AFFP) of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) and a free Universal Health Coverage under the National Health Insurance program of the government.
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Benjamin Manzano, one of the RSBSIA-registered tobacco farmers in Ilocos Sur, tends to his tobacco farm in Nalasin, Santiago, Ilocos Sur. (photo by Adonis D. Lazo/NTA Candon |
This is according to a let¬ter by NTA Administrator Edgardo D. Zaragoza that the agency has been sending to farmers since November.
The letter also advised the farmers to visit the NTA branch office in their area to know the availment proce¬dure of each program.
Free crop insurance
To avail of free crop insur¬ance coverage, farmers must be registered with the Regis¬try System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSIA), a nationwide database of base¬line information of farmers, farm laborers and fisher folk from identified provinces. At present there were 11,196 tobacco farmers registered with the RSBSIA.
Registered tobacco farm¬ers are entitled to free crop insurance coverage every time they avail of loans or production assistance from the NTA and other formal lending institutions, for the production of tobacco, which is considered high-value, and commercially grown crops, rice, livestock, poultry, among others.
The government’s crop insurance program is aimed at protecting the farmers from the impact of climate change. The insurable risks shall be any, all or a com¬bination of typhoon, flood, drought, earthquake, volca¬nic eruption, plant diseases, pest infestations and acci¬dental fire; provided that the risk/s covered shall be lim¬ited to those specified in the policy contract.
Loan assistance
Registered tobacco farm¬ers, in coordination with the tobacco farmers’ asso¬ciations/cooperatives where they are members, can avail of a loan assistance under the ACPC-AFFP, through the Land Bank of the Philip¬pines (LBP), for up to three livelihood/enterprise activi¬ties, and up to P300,000 lim¬it per farmer, depending on the proposed undertaking.
The mode of payment may be quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, based on the cash flow of their project. A monthly interest of 1.25 percent or annual rate of 15 percent is set. The loan term will be based on the crop production or project cycle of the borrower, but will not exceed five years.
The establishment of a flexible credit facility, under ACPC, is for the benefit of small farmers registered in the RSBSIA as an alterna¬tive to the rigid and stringent credit facilities usually pro¬vided by banks.
Universal Health Coverage
Tobacco farmers can avail of the enrollment and con¬tinuing PhilHealth coverage under the National Health Insurance Program of the government, pursuant to Section 2 of Rule III of Joint Circular No. 2014, Imple¬menting Rules and Regula¬tions of Republic Act 10351 (New Sin Tax Law).
The NTA will submit to PhilHealth its updated, vali¬dated registry or masterlist of tobacco farmers for of¬ficial enrolment under the above program. The enlist¬ment of farmers for coverage and issuance of ID, through the NTA Registry/ID System (RIDS), are now ongoing in different branches of the agency. (Neyo E. Valdez)
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