THINGS are heating up at the Cebu Provincial Capitol as the assumption of the new set of elected officials draws near.
The camp of incoming governor and outgoing third district Representative Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia has questioned the Capitol’s move to avail of an accident and life insurance package for more than 20,000 barangay workers from a private firm.
Last April 15, 2019, less than a month before the May 13 elections, the Provincial Board (PB) approved the resolution filed by reelected second district PB Member Jose Mari Salvador, who sought to authorize incoming vice governor and outgoing Gov. Hilario P. Davide III to enter into a contract with Fortune Life Insurance Company Inc. (Flici).
The measure will provide a life and accident insurance program for some 27,300 community volunteer workers, such as tanods, barangay health workers and nutrition scholars from 1,066 barangays in the province.
Through the measure, the barangay tanods, health workers and nutrition scholars will be initially covered under the insurance program amounting to P6 million with Flici.
The barangay frontliners are set to receive P25,000 in case of death and P2,500 in case of accident.
But lawyer Frank Eduard Dinsay V, a member of Garcia’s transition team, found the resolution irregular.
In a press statement, Dinsay said the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) can “very well” cover the insurance.
He further said that providing insurance to barangay officials and workers is “nothing new” in the Provincial Government.
“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,” a portion of the press statement read.
Dinsay said 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.
Sought for his comment, Davide said PCIC only gives insurance to farmers and fishermen, while GSIS caters to the needs of regular government employees.
He said the tanods and other barangay workers are volunteers.
“We found out after a thorough study that Fortune Life has the cheapest premium. It will cost us less,” Davide said in Cebuano.