Philstar.com
September 11, 2025 | 3:30pm
MANILA, Philippines — To assist and defend the nation’s most important but susceptible workforce, the Palawan Group of Firms and the Philippine Crop Insurance coverage Company (PCIC) have signed a Memorandum of Settlement to formalize their strategic partnership.
This collaboration is designed to reinforce the supply of crop insurance coverage payouts and broaden monetary entry for tens of millions of Filipino farmers.
Regardless of being the spine of our meals system, Filipino farmers face fixed dangers, starting from typhoons and droughts to pests and crop illnesses. Whereas crop insurance coverage is accessible to supply safety, claiming advantages rapidly and conveniently stays a major problem, particularly for these in geographically remoted and economically deprived areas.
In 2024, PCIC strengthened its dedication to inclusivity and sustainability by insuring over 4.2 million farmers, a 7.76% enhance from 2023, with complete protection reaching P141.561 billion.
Nonetheless, many of those farmers proceed to face difficulties when accessing their payouts attributable to restricted banking infrastructure in rural communities.
To assist shut this hole, Palawan Group’s nationwide community of greater than 3,500 Palawan Pawnshop–Palawan Categorical Pera Padala branches, which stay open even on weekends and holidays, affords farmers handy areas to assert their advantages.
The group’s digital pockets app, PalawanPay, extends this entry even additional by enabling farmers to obtain funds, pay payments, and handle transactions from their cell gadgets, with out the necessity for conventional financial institution accounts.
Atty. Jovy Bernabe, president of PCIC, highlighted how the partnership will ease long-standing burdens for Filipino farmers: “This can scale back delays, burdens, and be certain that our farmers obtain their advantages in a quicker, cheaper and extra handy approach. They save on transportation prices to succeed in the closest financial institution and, extra importantly, they are going to now not be pressured to rediscount their checks at unreasonable charges.”
By its “BrickTech” strategy, mixing bodily accessibility with digital comfort, the Palawan Group helps modernize the way in which authorities providers attain the individuals. This initiative streamlines the distribution of insurance coverage payouts, making them quicker, safer and extra accessible, particularly for farmers in rural and distant areas.
Greater than a payout channel, this collaboration marks a shift towards extra responsive, technology-driven public service supply, bridging the hole between authorities assist and the communities that want it most.
Lisa Lou Castro-Sabado, chief enterprise improvement officer of the Palawan Group, highlights the deeper objective behind the partnership with PCIC, describing it as a shared mission to uplift and defend the nation’s farmers.
Lisa Lou Castro-Sabado, chief enterprise improvement officer of the Palawan Group, expressed heartfelt appreciation for farmers and emphasised the extra profound significance of the partnership: “We imagine that farmers are the spine of our nation. Due to their exhausting work, we take pleasure in nutritious meals every single day. But many stay susceptible to the threats of nature with out satisfactory safety. This partnership is way more than a enterprise settlement. It’s a shared dedication to uplift and empower our agricultural sector.”
Shifting ahead, Palawan Group goals to strengthen its function in selling monetary inclusion by persevering with to develop its providers and digital improvements designed for farming communities. By leveraging insights from this partnership, the group plans to discover new collaborations, make transactions simpler, and provide monetary instruments that match the altering wants of Filipino farmers.
“Our farmers work tirelessly to feed the nation, but their livelihoods stay among the many most fragile. With PalawanPay, we’re constructing a bridge that connects farmers to the quick, dependable disbursement of insurance coverage claims—serbisyong matatag, maaasahan, mapagkakatiwalaan nasaan man sila sa Pilipinas (dependable, reliable and reliable service that reaches each nook of the Philippines),” added Third Librea, CEO of PalawanPay.
Angelita Castro, co-founder and deputy chairman of the Palawan Group, highlights the corporate’s dedication to delivering inclusive options that uplift underserved farming communities throughout the nation.
Angelita Castro, co-founder and deputy chairman of Palawan Group, added her assist and imaginative and prescient for long-term influence: “We’re proud to associate with PCIC and serve our underserved communities. We imagine this collaboration marks the start of a broader rollout of significant, inclusive options that profit Filipino farmers in all places.”
As climate-related dangers and monetary inequality proceed to have an effect on the agricultural sector, this partnership between the Palawan Group and PCIC is a well timed and essential step ahead. This initiative makes it considerably simpler for farmers to assert and handle their crop insurance coverage advantages, which promotes transparency, reduces ready instances, and empowers farmers to give attention to productiveness quite than paperwork. Collectively, they goal to create inclusive, resilient and accessible techniques that defend and empower the farmers who maintain the nation.
Editor’s Notice: This press launch is sponsored by PalawanPay. It’s revealed by the Promoting Content material Crew that’s impartial from our Editorial Newsroom.