“With the onslaught of unpredictable disasters like floods, landslides victimizing rich and poor, rural and urban areas, it is now very timely and badly needed that we have to promote microinsurance to protect lives, properties by which our poor marginal sector mostly suffer the biggest brunt if disaster strikes in farms, communities, abode and others that are not usually protected,” Romarate said.
Romarate, who is chairman of the House Committee on Insurance and member of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, recently conducted a committee hearing with private insurance company officials like former CB Governor Jose Cuisia and now Philam Insurance president and officials of the Insurance Commission of the Philippines (IC) here.
Insurance Commission of the Philippines Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc, Deputy Commissioner Vida Chiong and lawyers from the IC were also present at the committee hearing.
The committee leadership met with bigwigs of the insurance industry and the IC to discuss some amendments of the Insurance Code that will fit the needs of the times.
Guillermo said he is somehow sad that despite of the great need to insure farms, life and properties at times affected by disasters, only 12 percent according to the statistics of the Filipinos are now insured.
“We admit that there is somehow lack of comprehensive, widespread information-dissemination campaign to educate many of our Filipino brothers and sisters on the importance of insurance. Many of us think that when we insure our farms, properties and even our lives, it is additional expenses to us,” Romarate said.
Romarate claimed that some apprehensions of Filipinos especially the marginal poor sector, in the cost of premiums were true the reason there is lackluster interest of the Filipinos about insurance have been decreasingly weaning over the years.
“That is why there is a need to establish a micro-insurance system in this country to make provision of insurance accessible and affordable that will allow cheaper insurance premiums available to all, 'yung patigi-tigi ba mahilig naman mga Filipinos dyan, eh”, Romarate said.
Dooc, for his part, claimed the clamor for establishment of microinsurance in the country have been increasing over the years.
“The Quezon City government is a great example where LGUs give greater importance on microinsurance for their constituents under leadership of former mayor Sonny Belmonte now Speaker, and now Mayor Herbert Bautista. The Quezon City government has taken the lead for local government units to provide insurance through micro systems for their constituents,” Dooc told PNA in an interview.
Dooc claimed the move of the local government unit of Quezon City is very commendable that may spark interest of other LGUs in the country that provision of insurance for their respective constituents either on health care, life, nonlife insurance is a must.
Romarate, for his part, said he will study the Quezon City government experience on microinsurance on how they partnered themselves with private insurance providers providing very cheap premiums.
“We will duplicate this Quezon City experience to our LGUs in Surigao del Norte under my district,” Romarate concludes.
(PNA)
