The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) has pushed strongly the use of digital tools in its operation in response to the limitations caused by the ongoing corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

“This is one way for the PCIC to move forward towards the new normal,” Manuel Cortina, officer-in-charge of the PCIC’s Business Development and Marketing Department, said in the webinar series hosted by the Xavier University College of Agriculture.

The series featured the topic “Agri Insurance in the Philippines: Status, Challenges and Opportunities,” on July 9, 2021.

Among the digitalization measures are the increased use of smart phone technology to cut field validation time and forming a partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines for the use of their multi-channel disbursement facility for claims to be released more quickly and efficiently. The latter enables claims to be picked up in remittance centers such as MLhuillier, that are more accessible to farmers, Cortina said. 

Moreover, the PCIC supports special projects, like that of the Asian Development and the Bangko Sentral ng PIlipinas,  that includes assessing and  testing the feasibility of scaling-up digital tools,  including satellite-enabled solutions to some segments of insurance operations.

“Apart from these, we are building online platforms for insurance registration and filing of claims so farmers can fill out forms online.”

Further, Cortina said the PCIC is adding new partnerships with lending cooperatives, irrigators associations, cooperatives, rural banks and private organizations to its existing nationwide network of insurance allies. Some are given accreditations to be underwriters and solicitors, to make agricultural insurance more accessible.

These measures are aimed at enabling PCIC to fulfill its commitment to being the farmer’s dependable partner, even in these uncertain and trying times.