House approves bill granting insurance coverage to agrarian reform beneficiaries

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 1) — With 271 affirmative votes, a bill granting full insurance coverage to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries hurdled the third and final reading at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

House Bill (HB) 6680 “is envisioned to help farmers recover from the adverse effects of circumstances that are beyond their control, such as natural calamities, the infestation of plant diseases and pests, or even death and injury of the beneficiary,” House Speaker Martin Romualdez said during the plenary session.

HB 6680 defined qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries as regular farm workers who are classified as per Section 3(b) of Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009 or Republic Act No. 10000

Compensable losses, meanwhile, include those resulting from:

– natural calamities such as typhoon, flood, drought, earthquake, volcanic eruptions, frost, and other destructive natural phenomena such as heat and hot wind;

– plant diseases caused by pathogens, bacteria, fungi, viruses, virus-like pathogens, and other similar foreign bodies;

– pest infestations caused by nematodes, insects, mites and spiders, millipedes and centipedes, symphylans, slugs and snails, sow bugs and pillbugs, parasitic higher plants, and other parasites; and

– loss of life or injury to the qualified agrarian reform beneficiary due to accident or any of the aforementioned causes;

Under the measure, the following are covered by insurance:

– palay, corn, sugarcane, coconut, tobacco, and high-value crops as defined by Section 4(b) of Republic Act No. 7900 or the High-Value Crops Development Act of 1995;

– crops or stocks in fisheries farms; and

– livestock; and

-non-crop agricultural assets used in farming and reported to and certified by the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Penalties for beneficiaries who misuse or divert the financial aid granted to them include forfeiture of the land transferred to the farmer “without prejudice to criminal prosecution.”

HB 6680 consolidated and harmonized HB 3178 and HB 3839 introduced by Batangas 6th District Rep. Ralph Recto and Ilocos Sur 2nd District Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan, respectively.

HB 6680 also amends Republic Act No. 6657 as Amended by Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988.