Capitol’s private insurance of barangay workers questioned

CEBU, Philippines — The camp of governor-elect Gwendolyn Garcia has questioned the insurance package of more than 20,000 workers from 1,066 barangays in Cebu who will be covered by a private insurance company.

Lawyer Frank Eduard Dinsay V, a member of Garcia’s transition team, was reacting to the approval by the Provincial Board of a resolution authored by second district Board Member Jose Mari Salvador authorizing the governor to enter into a contract with Fortune Life Insurance Company.

Dinsay found this irregular considering that there are at least two government insurance companies, namely the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), that can very well cover this type of insurance.

Salvador earlier said that barangay tanods, health workers and nutrition scholars are initially covered under this protection program amounting to P6 million with Fortune Life Insurance Company Inc.

Under the coverage, the barangay frontliners will receive P25,000 in case of death, while P2,500 in cases of accident.

Dinsay said providing insurance to barangay officials and workers like the Barangay Health Workers (BHW) and barangay tanods as well as farmers and fisherfolks is nothing new in the provincial government of Cebu.

When Garcia first served as governor from 2004 to 2013, she made insurance a part of her program of government to ensure that barangay officials and workers are aptly protected when they perform their important day-to-day tasks.

She also included the farmers and fisherfolks whose crops, livestocks and equipment are constantly exposed to the hazards of natural calamities.

The barangay officials, farmers and fisherfolks were covered with a P50,000 accident insurance, P10,000 medical reimbursement and P2,000 burial assistance. The premium for this benefit package was P37 per annum.

Outgoing Governor Hilario Davide III defended his administration’s move saying the private insurance provider offered cheaper premium.

“Among natan-aw, gitun-an na pagmaayo gyud nga ang Fortune Life maoy gamay ang premium ang bayranan," Davide said. (FREEMAN)