Pension fund for fishers, farmers sought

Farmers plant rice seedlings | STOCK PHOTO

A party list lawmaker has proposed the creation of pension fund for farmers and fisherfolk as a salute to their work in feeding the country even as they raise families of their own.

In his House Bill No. 2420, or the proposed “Agriculture Pension Act,” AGRI Rep. Wilbert Lee sought to establish a “Farmers and Fisherfolk Social Security and Pension Program” to be implemented by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) and the Social Security System (SSS).

Lee proposed that the social security and pension scheme cover sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, death and funeral benefits, consistent with existing package benefits under the SSS and the PCIC, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.

The amount necessary to carry out the initial implementation of the social security and pension program will be drawn from the national government’s savings.

In succeeding years, the funds needed for the program will be sourced from 10 percent of the total annual duties collected from the importation of agricultural products. —JULIE M. AURELIO

READ: Pension fund for farmers, fisherfolk pushed in Senate