Gov. Joy Bernos assured her support to Abreño farmers during the release of crop insurance checks by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) at the “Sagot Kadagiti Mannalon” program on January 22, 2019, at Abra Sports Complex, Bangued.

In her speech, Gov. Bernos said agricultural development is one of her priorities in partnership with Congressman Joseph St. Niño Bernos. A total of 1,947 crop insurance checks amounting to P14,594,868  were given to the farmers.

PCIC Regional Manager Raul Servito urged the farmers to continuously avail of this free crop insurance program so they can recover from their farming losses.

Farmers are identified through the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) census. The damage of crops after typhoon Ompong was validated by PCIC personnel of Ilocos, Abra, and Urdaneta City with the help of municipal agricultural officers.

PCIC-Abra Project Coordinator Yzzat G. Barbero said each farmer can avail of insurance amounting to P20,000 per hectare and may enroll a maximum of three hectares. Farmers need to enroll or apply for their insurance every cropping season to have protection against production loss due to typhoons, pest, and drought.

PCIC is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture tasked to provide affordable and accessible agricultural insurance on crops and other agricultural products.