SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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o f the 
pl.'tr y
’16 
JIJL21 
P 2 : 1 3
SENATE
s. No. 
799
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/O
Introduced by Senator Ralph G. Recto
AN ACT
AUTHORIZING THE GRANT OF A FULL CROP INSURANCE COVERAGE TO 
QUALIFIED BENEFICIARIES OF THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM 
PROGRAM AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION 14 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 
9700, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM 
PROGRAM EXTENSION WITH REFORMS”
Explanatory Note
Over the past years, the Philippines suffered extreme weather events such as heavy rains, 
typhoons and drou^ts that were more intense than what had been normally experienced. The 
Department of Agriculture (DA) estimates that the agricultural damage wrought by the El Nino 
Southern Oscillation Phenomenon since February 2015 already reached P5.32 billion in February 
of this year , PI.34 billion of which was incurred during its peak months of January and 
Februaiyr. Typhoon Nona brought about P4.33 billion worth of damage to agriculture when it 
struck the country in December 20152 3. This is after Typhoon Pablo caused about P ll billion 
worth of damages a month earlier, P9.69 billion of which was suffered by the agricultural areas 
in Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, V and CAR4. These disasters take a great toll on Filipinos for 
they can disrupt livelihood and affect food production. The poor, more particularly those 
engaged in agriculture suffer the most because their household and livelihood are usually located 
in areas most vulnerable to natural hazards and calamities.
Crop insurance is one of the government’s instruments in mitigating agricultural risks and 
addressing the consequence of calamities on the agricultural sector. As a risk management tool, 
crop insurance provides two advantages. One, it makes losses more bearable by providing 
immediate financial support so affected farmers would have better options than waiting for the 
next planting season or resorting to borrow money at usurious rates. With the sum of money 
paid, the farmers are able to immediately replant as soon as weather and soil condition permits. 
Two, it provides a mechanism to mitigate the effects of calamities on crop production, sustaining 
not only the farmer’s family income, but the country’s food security as well.
In the Philippines, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) implements and 
manages the government program on agricultural insurance. However, the participation of 
agricultural workers in the government agricultural insurance program remained low. In 2014, 
PCIC only insured some 792,208 hectares of land and 917,814 farmers and paid claims worth
2 M'raflor, M. B. (2016, March 12). El Nino causes P5-B losses to agriculture. Manila Bulletin.
3 Domingo, R.W. (2016, March 3). El Nino damage rises to P4.77B. Philippine Daily Inquirer.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Couneil. (2015, December 24). Situational Report No 19 re-
4 Preparedness Measures and Effects of Typhoon “NONA” (I.N. MELOR).
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. (2015, November 3). Situational Report No. 26 re- 
Preparedness Measures and Effects of Typhoon “LANDO” (I.N. KOPPU).