The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) released a total of PHP229,700 check reimbursement to 12 hog raisers affected by the African swine fever (ASF) in the municipality of Hamtic in Antique on Thursday. PCIC Antique Extension Office head Clogene Galuego said the recipients belong to the first batch of claimants from Hamtic. 'There are around 400 hog raisers who have PCIC insurance coverage in Hamtic and have already filed their claims,' he said in an interview. Antique recorded its first case of confirmed ASF in Hamtic on June 23. Other cases were from the towns of San Jose de Buenavista and Belison. 'The PCIC first released PHP174,400 indemnity checks to two hog raisers in San Jose de Buenavista on Aug. 1,' Galuego said. The PCIC provides free insurance coverage to up to 20 heads for fatteners and 10 heads for breeders provided the farmer is registered with the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). Antique Provincial Veterinarian Public Health Division chief Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil said there is a need for swine raisers in the northern towns to intensify their biosecurity measures. 'We consider the northern towns in Antique as the buffer zone so hog raisers have really to protect their livelihood,' Ardamil said in a separate interview
Source: Philippines News Agency