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THE
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) may not take
over the business of extending Compulsory Third-Party
Liability insurance, or CTPL, from private insurers
until after the completion of a study on the matter,
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said Thursday.
“We want
to study the matter first and I have just started to
consult with the Insurance Commission and other
stakeholders,” Teves told reporters.
He did
not indicate how long the study was going to take.
He
strongly indicated that the GSIS should not push ahead
with its plan to take over the business. The state
pension fund has won its case in the lower court to sell
CTPL insurance.
Earlier,
GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia said
they were already pilot testing their CTPL operations in
certain areas.
He told
reporters they were “ready to take over and implement
the decision” by the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC) giving the GSIS authority to
extend insurance coverage to some 5.5 million registered
vehicles.
Teves,
however, did not indicate whether he has communicated
his views with the GSIS, over which he has supervisory
authority.
But the
private insurers, led by the Philippine Insurers and
Reinsurers Association (Pira), have actively resisted
the GSIS takeover and vowed to take the matter all the
way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Pira has
failed to convince the Makati Regional Trial Court that
the GSIS should be prevented from taking over a business
that turns profits of around P2.5 billion a year for an
industry best known for its shady practices.
The GSIS
has claimed Pira overprices its products and has been
known to “switch” certificates of insurance coverage, as
well.
Pira
chairman Honorio Ramajo insisted that Garcia had been
fed “the wrong facts” on CTPL.
Ramajo
said Pira members have policed their ranks and
strengthened their processes to ensure only genuine
CTPLs were sold and at better prices.
“The new
system works. The GSIS cannot be a broker or agent for
the Land Transportation Office [LTO]. They should leave
us by ourselves,” Ramajo said.
“It’s
good news,” said Obet Martin, president of the
transportation group Pasang Masda. He was speaking to
reporters upon emerging from a three-hour meeting with
Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the DOTC in Mandaluyong
City.
This
means that the Philippine Accident Managers Insurance
Inc. (Pami) and Universal Transport Insurance Solutions
Inc. (Unitrans) will continue to sell CTPL, Martin said.
At
present, owners of public-utility vehicles get their
CTPL coverage from either Pami or Unitrans.
The
DOTC, Insurance Commission, Stradcom Corp. and GSIS
earlier inked a memorandum of agreement giving GSIS the
exclusive right to issue CTPL certificates of cover to
vehicle owners that register their cars before the LTO.
Transport groups saw the move as a prelude to the take
over of the CTPL business at the Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board by the government
pension fund.
Also
present during the marathon meeting with Mendoza were
Homer Mercado of the Provincial Bus Operators
Association of the Philippines, Efren de Luna of
Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, Melencio
Vargas of the Alliance of Transport Operators, Orlando
Marquez of the Makati Jeepney Operators and Drivers
Association, along with Elena Santos of the National
Transport Union, Land Transport Organization of the
Philippines. (With reporting from Jojo Perez) |
