The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has assured the provision of assistance to farmer-beneficiaries affected by typhoons “Quinta,” “Rolly,” and “Ulysses.”
Secretary John Castriciones said agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) enrolled by the DAR to the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) would receive compensation for their farm’s damages and losses.
"The Department is closely working with the PCIC to assist our affected farmers to immediately indemnify them from their losses," he said.
Apart from the insurance, Castriciones noted that the DAR, through its partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines, will also activate its financial support program for ARBs called "E-ARISE-ARBs" or the Expanded Assistance to Restore and Install Sustainable Enterprises for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries and Small Farm Holders Program.
"E-ARISE program started year 2018, and we have allocated P100 million for our farmers. One of the objectives of this program is to provide credit support for post-disaster emergency needs to restore livelihood and farming activities of disaster-affected ARBs," he said.
There are two types of loan packages for E-ARISE, the livelihood/agri-enterprise loan which is intended to finance farmers’ needs for their farms and other livelihood activities, and providential loan for the improvement or repairs of their houses.
Castriciones explained that agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) will be the conduit of this program.
Individual farmers should notify the ARBOs, where they are members of, so that proper coordination can be done by the ARBOs with the DAR’s municipal or provincial offices to assess the damages and provide funds that would help them revive their economic lives.
"I advise our ARBs to immediately contact their ARBOs so that they would know what other assistance they could get from DAR to help them rise again. Aside from E-ARISE, we also have other financial assistance, such as Accessible Fund for Delivery to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (AFFORD to ARBs), Credit Assistance Program Program Beneficiaries Development (CAP-PBD) and Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP). All these loaning programs for our farmers have very minimal interests," Castriciones said.