After life, accident insurance DA-PCIC DESIGNS PENSION PLAN FOR AGEING FARMERS, FISHERMEN

By Manny Piñol

After the successful launching of a Life and Accident Insurance Plan for farmers and fishermen, the Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (DA-PCIC) has started designing a Pension Program which would provide retirement benefits to millions of people who produce food for the country.

Initially called the “Farmers and Fishermen’s Pension Fund (FFPF), the program is aimed at providing security to farmers and fishermen in the country who “retire” from food production work because of old age.

This is a program which I have long advocated even when I was still Governor of North Cotabato and this is based on my realization that when the farmer gets too old to still be able to work in the field, he usually ends up sickly and too poor to even buy medicines for rheumatism.

I have always emphasized that while government workers have the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and private company employees and self-employed workers have the Social Security System (SSS), farmers and fishermen are not covered by any pension fund.

The proposal to establish a Pension Fund for Farmers and Fishermen follows the implementation of a Life and Accident Insurance Program two years ago which provides financial benefits of up to P50,000.

The FFPF could be funded through the tariffs and duties imposed on imported agricultural and fisheries products and this could be done through Congressional action.

Last Tuesday, during the Internal Budget Hearing of the DA, I asked PCIC President Jovy Bernabe to prepare the proposal for the Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Pension Fund so that it could be submitted to Congress for enactment into law.

I believe the time has come for the farmers and fishermen, often called “The Backbone of the Nation” to be given the care and attention that they deserve.

#Changeishere! #DuterteDelivers! #PensionFundForFarmersFishermen!

(Photos downloaded from public websites.)