Ano ang kaibahan ng Life Insurance sa Pre-Need?
PLIA at Bulong Pulungan
Some Basic Facts About Life Insurance
Gabe Mercado, Getting the Most Laughs Out of Life
The Importance of Life Insurance
Scheme to Make Pinoys Pay for Insurance
Negative Rating is Inappropriate
What it Means to Have Life Insurance
Insurers Want New Deadline for Capital Hike
Insurance Companies Press for Gov't Perks
Filipinos, not as secure as they think
Retirement Plans
Govt Urges Small Insurance Firms to Merge
Chiqui Roa, Life Insurance Advocate
Did J.Lo Insure Her Butt?
2008 Eyed for Insurance Tax End
Pinoys Spend More on Cigarettes than Life Insurance
Love Insurance
Insurance Firms Ordered to Present Realistic Yields
Insurance Industry to grow 7%
New capital Requirement Shake Up Insurance Firms
Pre-Need Industry Collapse Drags Down Life Insurance
PLIA Favors P100M Paid in Capital
Insurance Capital Hike
Insurance Industry Warns of Collapse

Insurance as a Savings
Sison: Taxes on life insurance policies to be abolished
Insurance firms bound to disclosure rules of IC
Higher deposit insurance takes effect
Insurance industry forecasts 15% growth
Proposed IC oversight on SSS, GSIS reviewed
IC monitors insurance firms’ capital adequacy
Unified regulation of 3 sectors eyed SEC explores option
Insurance for the poor
DoF reviews insurance tax predicament
IC reviews insurance capitalization rule
IC reviews dollar, new insurance products
Insurance tax bid needs documentation
Insurance industry expansion framework up
Philippine Life Insurance Industry Performance for 2002
 
 


INSURANCE AS A SAVINGS

By: Fr. Emeterio Barcelon
http://www.mb.com.ph/OPED2004062512590.html


INSURANCE is a form of savings. Insurance or mutual benefit schemes are needed by the poor
even more than the rich. A problem is that available coverage for life insurance at present requires over R200 premium payments a month and this is beyond the capability of most of the entrepreneurial poor serviced by the micro finance organizations. Savings, even before they have reached a needed amount, as for example burial expenses, will already be available if the savings are deposited in an insurance firm or mutual benefit association.
Insurance is a question of numbers. In the Milamdec experience, the original agreement
between the members of the micro finance groups was that they would contribute R10 for anyone among the members who dies. But they found this "ambagan" system cumbersome. The deaths might occur at a time when the other members would be short of cash. They preferred to contribute R150 every six months to be entitled to R30,000 benefit for death and cover of their loan liabilities. This turns out to about R25 premium a month in contrast to the R200 a month of the regular insurance companies. This life insurance has become quite popular among the members of the micro finance groups so that many have insisted that their husbands also be covered.
The history of insurance includes the mutual coverage practiced by the Chinese junks going
down the Yangtse River over two thousand years ago. A side effect of this was the creation of a pool of funds from which to capitalize ventures. In New England, the pioneer settlers were particularly noted for their practice of insurance. As a result even today some of the largest insurance companies in the world trace their roots to New England.
A big contributor to this emphasis on savings and insurance was what became known as the
Protestant Ethic. The gist of it was that the blessing of God extended to life on this earth. The reasoning was that if a person became destitute it was because God was displeased with him. The opposite was also true that if a person had material resources, it was a sign that God was pleased with him and would also reward him in the next life.
Everyone, therefore, strove to have savings to stave off destitution or poverty. This became
part of the strength of the insurance system of New England.
Life insurance is rather simple to provide especially with relatively young participants. The more difficult insurance is health insurance. Even the health insurance of the United States gets into difficult straits and has to be bailed out by the national government. The local poor normally need about R2,000 for medicines when they get sick but this can be covered with personal savings. It is when the patient has to be hospitalized that the costs go up considerably. This usually needs a higher premium to cover hospital stay, which is also uncertain as to its duration.
Right now, many people in the rural areas cannot afford the premium to cover this contin-
gency. The government health insurance system is the only available and practical solution. Perhaps only about 30 percent in this country carry insurance in contrast to countries like Japan where they figure its citizens are covered 105 percent or more. The pooling of savings by insurance schemes has the beneficial side effect of creating funds that can be used for investments.
Tailoring the insurance premiums and the benefits for life insurance is a question of numbers.
Health insurance is a different matter and more complicated. Coverage of loan repayment is also easy.
 
     
 
 

SISON TAXES ON LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES TO BE ABOLISHED
By Mark Allen Sison
10/7/2003 5:10:23 AM * SunStar Network Online
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/pam/2003/10/07/oped/mark.allen.sison.html

TO STRENGTHEN the life insurance industry, this is considered a vital source of long-term
savings, the committee on ways and means approved a proposal abolishing the premium tax and documentary stamp tax on life insurance policies and annuities.
Contained in a substitute bill to House Bill 5049 filed by Rep. Julio Ledesma IV (1st District,
Negros Occidental), the proposal, in effect, seeks to repeal Section 123 and amend Sections 183 and 186 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as amended.
In the explanatory note to HB 5049, Ledesma said that the imposition of any tax on the life
insurance policy only serves to increase the cost of savings through life insurance and, thus, diminishes its attractiveness as an economic vehicle for long-term savings accumulation.
"By abolishing the premium tax and documentary stamp tax on the life insurance policies and
annuities, we will be able to strengthen the life insurance industry as well as promote the industry's ability to generate long term funds for the economy," he said.
  Under the proposal, the imposition of tax on life insurance premium as provided under Section
123 of the NIRC shall be abolished. The measure also provides that no documentary stamp tax shall be collected on life insurance policies, policies of annuities and pre-need plans with premium paying period exceeding five years.
  In their respective position papers submitted to the Committee, the Insurance Commission
and the Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. (PLIA) expressed their full support for the immediate passage of the measure.
  Insurance Commissioner Eduardo Malinis supported the notion that heavy taxes on the life
insurance industry serve as a strong disincentive to buy life insurance products. He said the enactment of the proposed law would enhance the capacity of the industry to mobilize savings.
 
Jose Cuisia Jr., president of the PLIA, likewise averred that the initiative to reduce, if not
totally abolish, the premium tax and the documentary stamp tax on life insurance policies is a "badly needed shot-in-the-arm which will spur the growth of the insurance industry and sustain its role as an enduring pillar of the economy."
 
On the other hand, the Department of Finance (DOF) stated in its position paper that the de-
partment is open to considering a new indirect tax structure for life insurance business to institute a fairer and more equitable tax system. The department is batting for the taxation of only the non-saving portion of the premium and the possible inclusion of the life insurance companies' investment income into the tax net.
  On the imposition of the documentary stamp tax on all life insurance policies,the DOF is taking
the position of maintaining the rate at 0.25 percent but changing the tax base from the contract amount to the amount of premium paid. (October 5, 2003 issue)

 
 
 
INSURANCE FIRMS BOUND TO DISCLOSURE RULES OF IC
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/03/22/BSNS200403225450.html
By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN


  The Insurance Commission has released the guidelines for the general disclosure of corporate
governance practices of insurance companies, reinsurers and intermediaries in preparation for its industry data update.
  “This would serve as guides for insurers (in order to) comply with IC disclosure rules,” IC chief
Eduardo T. Malinis said. According to Circular Letter No. 3-2004 issued this month, insurance firms are directed to comply with the IC’s disclosure procedures with regards to corporate governance practices. Malinis said the rules are “for strict compliance.”
  Based on the circular, insurers and reinsurers are asked to submit an IC form, which will be
accomplished by a compliance officer and signed jointly with the company president or chief executive officer for authentication. This will be submitted under oath not later than April 30 this year.
  The circular directs companies to disclose all material matters including financial condition,
performance, ownership and governance of the company. Under its financial reporting procedures, the agency maintains that all insurers and reinsurers have “ensured faithful compliance with the financial and other reportorial requirements under the Insurance Code.” “The (company) board should ensure access to relevant information to all parties with legitimate interests in the firm,” the IC said.
  Other issues and practices, which require proper disclosures, are board composition, their
responsibility and qualifications especially the president and CEO. “In sum, (the board) should have fostered the long-term success of the company in a manner consistent with its fiduciary responsibility,” Malinis said.
  Also requiring disclosure is insurers’ corporate independence policies, including group structure
and related-party transactions, and that the provisions of Title 20, Chapter 3 of the Insurance Code have been complied with.
  The companies licensed by the IC should also maintain internal control and operational risk
management, as well as transparency. “(Insurers) should ensure effective system of controls to protect company’s assets,” the agency said.
  The circular is part of the IC effort to update the 1964 Insurance Code, according to current
standards and systems. “Efforts have been made to amend the law, but we’ve written significant (department) orders in the past to bring the code updated from time to time,” Malinis said earlier.
  The last revision made was in 1978 and even these changes have been overtaken by
industry expansions.
  The IC Investment Advisory Committee has prepared several recommendations and other
provisions to amend the 39-year-old insurance law. Most of the changes would be on general disclosures and insurance investments.
  Malinis said revisions to the Insurance Code are now under review, including proposals to
strengthen the IC supervisory powers, particularly insolvency monitoring, to make sure that life and nonlife companies maintain a certain level of financial security to meet policy contracts when they mature.

 
  HIGHER DEPOSIT INSURANCE TAKES EFFECT
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/08/12/BSNS2004081216123.html

  The law increasing the maximum insurance coverage for deposits from P100,000 to P250,000
takes effect today.
  Republic Act 9302, which amended the Charter of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation
(PDIC), bestows greater depositor protection to some 26 million depositors and strengthens the capabilities of the PDIC to promote greater public confidence in banks and foster stability in the banking system. The law enhances PDIC’s role as deposit insurer, risk minimizer and statutory receiver/liquidator of closed banks.
The increase in the maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC) at R250,000 deposit
insurance fully insures 96 percent of the total number of deposit accounts in the banking system. RA 9302 also ensures uninterrupted deposit insurance to bank depositors as the law revoked PDIC’s authority to terminate insurance of banks.
The depositing public will also benefit from strengthened bank supervision with the restoration
of PDIC’s authority to examine member banks, with the prior approval of the Monetary Board. This is expected to enhance early detection of problems and the management of risks in banks, in close coordination with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
  The law also provides for stiffer penalties for erring bank owners and officials found engaging
in unsafe and unsound banking practices from up to 12 years in prison and civil penalties of fines up to R2 million.
  PDIC is also allowed under the new law to set standards for deposit-record keeping to hasten
processing of deposit insurance claims, in case of bank closures. RA 9302 also strengthens market discipline as it provides deterrents to depositors to split large deposit accounts in a bank to get around the insurance limit and to chase after high deposit interest rates.

 
 
 
INSURANCE INDUSTRY FORECASTS 15% GROWTH
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/03/21/BSNS200403215295.html
By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN


The insurance industry is forecasting a 10-15 percent industry growth this year based on
premium generation as the economy and businesses exhibit robust performance in the next 18 months.
"The insurance sector was stable in 2003 but since we see better economy this year we
expect to increase industry income and sales by at least 15 percent," according to Philippine Life Insurance Association president Jose L. Cuisia Jr.
Cuisia is banking on increased business activity during the election weeks when
consumer spending will expand.
"2004 is an election year and the money circulation is expected to double. When people has
money or dispensable cash, they can buy anything (including) insurance," he added. The Philippine presidential election will be held in May.
In the meantime the R250-billion life insurance sector has reiterated its appeal to government
to approve a list of incentives to enhance its ability to mobilize long-term instruments and encourage financial savings.
Cuisia as PLIA chief said insurance is a natural source of long-term capital to bolster economic
development. To absorb the funds and re-invest these in securities and other instruments, the industry is asking the Insurance Commission to grant them incentives in the form of tax perks to support its long-term investments.
They argued that since the industry is a natural ally in the campaign to develop a well-
functioning fixed-income or bond market, it should be accorded enough incentives.
PLIA said in the past, capital mobilization has been dependent on the banking sector, but it failed to deliver satisfactory returns since banks are more short-term in nature. Long-term sources of investments have diversified the capital from industrial, agricultural and development financing.
The insurance sector is the best alternative as source of capital, or as an alternative to banks, which are now cautious in lending out funds because of the higher than expected non-performing assets and defaulted loans. The banking sector is now trying to clean up its illiquid state through special purpose vehicle units.
The group said efforts to revive a healthy banking business "points out to the crying need to
develop a full-pledged bond market and the corresponding regulatory and institutional infrastructure." The insurance industry said they could provide the products and services, technical expertise in actuarial science to mobilize investments.
 
The IC is set to work with industry players to expand market structure and help insurers
penetrate a bigger share of the population to mobilize savings. These savings tapped by insurers are invested primarily in long-term investment instruments, which is capital for economic expansion. The offering of long-term fixed rate treasury notes by the government was a welcome development for the life insurance industry.
 
 
  PROPOSED IC OVERSIGHT on SSS, GSIS REVIEWED
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/07/19/BSNS2004071914398.html

 
The Department of Finance is currently reviewing the proposal from the Insurance
Commission to increase its supervisory power over the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System.
 
Based on the submitted proposal for a memorandum circular, IC Commissioner Eduardo T.
Malinis said the agency, an attached unit of the DoF, would have to require both SSS and GSIS to submit contracts and other “endorsements” for evaluation, including insurance policies, which have already been subjected to actuarial findings.
 
The social security institutions would also have to submit technical reserves, premium rates
and the corresponding actuarial basis for such policies. The submissions of these documents would have to be certified by an actuarian to endow “reasonableness of the premium rates and adequacy of reserves.”
 
This is in line with the provision of Section 246 of the Insurance Code and the respective
charters of the SSS and GSIS, which empowers the commission to conduct an examination of the financial condition and business methods of the two SSI at periodic intervals. It was reported earlier that the DoF is not too happy about allowing the IC more power authority over the SSS and GSIS through an administrative order. The DoF asked the IC to review the legality of the draft AO.
 
The AO specifically suggests that the IC will have power to examine various operations of the
pension funds, including their investment activities, thus extending its authority. The proposals will complement the commission’s effort to up-date the 1964 Insurance Code to make the law “relevant” according to current standards and systems.
 
The IC Investment Advisory Committee has prepared several recommendations and other pro-
visions to amend the 39-year-old insurance law.
 
Malinis said earlier that most of the changes would be on how insurance investments would be
treated and monitored by the agency.
 
Malinis said proposed revisions to the Code are now under review. Also in review are other
proposals to strengthen the IC supervisory powers, particularly insolvency monitoring, to make sure that life and non-life companies maintain a certain level of financial security to meet policy contracts when they mature.
 
This is part and parcel of the overall review of the industry and what more the IC could do to
develop market structure while maintaining a monitored environment. (LCC)

 
 
  IC MONITORS INSURANCE FIRMS' CAPITAL ADEQUACY
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/05/30/BSNS2004053010679.html
By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN


  The Insurance Commission is monitoring compliance to the higher paid-up capital requirement
for all insurance and reinsurance brokers and agents to ensure that funds do not run dry.
 
At the same time,the IC an attached agency of the Department of Finance, is also encoura-
ging the industry to boost its reserve fund, especially non-life companies which have more underwriting risks. Non-life insurers are highly dependent on reinsurers and resources should always be guaranteed. Insurers cover only 5 to 10 percent of losses but without a reserve fund, insured losses are compromised.
At the moment the Philippine insurance sector is dependent on international reinsurance
support. To protect planholders and ensure fund availability, the IC issued a circular last month directing brokers and agents to increase their paid-up capital and maintain a minimum of R500, 000 for reinsurance brokers and R250,000 for general agents. The commission is going the rounds to make sure that companies are complying.
IC chief Eduardo T. Malinis said that the increase in paid-up capital would protect the insuring
public and avoid companies with "expenses more than their income" and prevent capital deficiencies, which "undermine (insurers) responsibility."
The commission last issued a department order in July 2002 increasing paidup capital of
insurance companies from R30 million to R50 million, which is the minimum. Presently the IC is helping the non-life sector establish a reserve buffer fund. The support will insure losses caused by natural causes, such as damage brought about by typhoons, floods, etc. In most cases, since the industry lacks a back-up fund, it is the state that shoulders insurance concerns of these unpredictable events.
The IC is hoping that the establishment of the reserve fund would encourage global reinsures
to provide local non-life policy issuers the support they require. The government recognizes the insurance sector’s worth as an indicator of economic development. Savings tapped by insurers are invested primarily in long-term investment instruments, which is capital for economic expansion. However this is true only for life insurers since non-life are short-term in nature and lack the capacity for long-term investments.

 
 
  UNIFIED REGULATION OF 3 SECTORS eyed SEC EXPLORES OPTION
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/04/29/BSNS200404298391.html
By ANA MARIE MACUJA


The Securities and Exchange Commission is exploring an option to move into a unified regula-
tion of the country’s banking, securities and insurance industries.
In line with his, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)Chair Lilia R. Bautista said they may
look into how Singapore integrated its entire financial sector.The Monetary Authority of Singapore was the first integrated supervisor, which combined banking supervision with insurance and the securities industries in 1971 and 1984, respectively.Bautista said adopting Singapore’s model would need a legislation to incorporate securities and insurance within the Central Bank. “This would make the Central Bank a very powerful body but there would be economies of scale and there would be no regulatory arbitrage,” she said.Under a Singporean model of unified regulation, Bautista said the government may also explore the option of designating three Deputy Governors to form part of the Monetary Board. The three, she said would handle the three areas of banks, insurance and securities.
“This would enable the Monetary Board to concentrate on monetary policies and set direction
over regulatory policies. It need not be bothered by the audit of banks, brokers, listed companies and insurance companies. The three regulators must be part of the Monetary Board so that it can be guided in its policy role,” Bautista said.
Unified financial sector regulation refers to the establishment of a single supervisor for the
entire entire financial sector or by centralizing in one agency the powers to supervise at least two of the main financial intermediaries (such as banking with insurance, banking with securities or securities with insurance). As of end-2002, 46 countries had adopted unified regulation. Those who have recently adopted a unified regulation include Estonia, Germany, Ireland and Malta.
In a recent survey conducted by the World Bank, the major reasons cited by countries for
adopting a unified regulation are the need to better supervise a financial system moving towards universal banking and, the need to resolve problems resulting from poor communication and a lack of cooperation among existing supervisory countries.
Meantime in the current Philippine setup, regulation of banks, securities and insurance indus-
tries is under three different government agencies. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is in charge of regulating banks while the SEC supervises pre-need companies, investment houses, financing agencies, brokerage firms, listed companies and stock exchanges. The Insurance Commission (IC), on the other hand, is the regulator of non-life and life insurance companies.

 
 
  INSURANCE FOR THE POOR
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/03/12/OPED200403124613.html

The poor need insurance more than the wealthy and yet it is the poor who are left out in our
system. Insurance is a form of anticipating inevitable expenses. It also breaks down those expenses into manageable bites as well as being a form of savings.
A few years back, this country was only 15 percent covered with life insurance. The percen-
tages must be better now but that is far from countries like Japan where they report coverage of 105 percent. The industry divides itself into life and non-life. SSS and GSIS cover mostly life insurance. While they are the largest insurers in the country, they still do not cover the farmers and a large section of the country.
Some put it facetiously that it is expensive to die nowadays. This is a reality. For the poor,
burial expenses are a heavy burden for which there is no provision. They turn to neighbors who chip in what they can. Some form of gambling is often used at wakes at times abused by unscrupulous characters to make an extra buck. Savvy politicians put aside funds for caskets and burial assistance for which they collect at election time. In micro-finance operations, mutual benefit contributions to a fund has been a great help and the borrowers often demand to have their spouses also covered. These mutual benefit funds are turning out to be a good fund source for micro-finance operations.
Non-life insurance has been practiced for centuries as in the trading vessels that came down
the Yangtze River in China and was a source of capital formation. The insurance companies of New England provided funds for enterprises that fueled its prosperity. The nonlife insurance needed in the countryside at present is crop insurance. The farmer has two strikes against him over which he has little control, namely price fluctuations and vagaries of the weather. With the failure of the government crop insurance system, the farmer has no hope of getting out of poverty.
Farmers have been willing to pay for crop insurance but how to make crop insurance work or
survive still needs study. The failed crop insurance system of the government only managed to bail out Land Bank. One suggestion is to make the crop insurance system in part privately managed. This may not completely solve the problem but crop insurance is necessary if our farmers are to extract themselves out of dire poverty.
Poverty has kept our subsistence farmers ignorant of agricultural technology and in a vicious
cycle this has kept them in poverty. For many the only solution is migration to urban areas. This may be inevitable but it should not be too fast as to cause unnecessary problems. Where just a few decades ago the country was only 20 percent urbanized, present statistics put this figure at 60 percent. While land reform tended to break up land holdings there is now a realization of the need for consolidation, not necessarily of ownership but of production methods and marketing.
Besides life insurance and crop insurance, the poor are also faced with the need for health
insurance. PhilHealth is an effort in the right direction. But at what level of health can it maintain the community without running out of funds as is happening in the rich countries like the US? Urbanized areas may be helped greatly by this government health insurance but the farmers are still left out. The herbal traditions are a big help but there are health problems that cannot be helped by the traditional herbolario.
 
 
  DoF REVIEWS INSURANCE TAX PREDICAMENT
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/05/02/BSNS200405028561.html
By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN


The Department of Finance said it would finalize on May 25 its stance on the insurance
industry’s bid to suspend the two-percent creditable withholding tax on the non-life sector and other tax matters affecting insurers.
The non-life insurance industry has appealed to the DoF to suspend the creditable withholding
tax on their policy premium payments. The suspension would prevent the implementation of Revenue Regulation 17- 2003 while insurers and the Bureau of Internal Revenue resolve their differences in interpreting the tax law.
The DoF also created a Technical Working Group to study and review the industry’s tax
concerns and also form a link between the sector and various agencies involved with insurance monitoring. The TWG is composed of officials from the Insurance Commission and the Bureau of Internal revenue. The objective is to establish closer coordination between the three agencies involved in the industry’s tax issues and other problems. The Bureau of Customs will also be included to discuss issues with DoF Undersecretary Grace P. Tan who heads the group is presently reviewing the annual statements of insurance companies for 2001 and 2002 to assess the industry’s financial condition. As of end 2003, insurers have an asset value of R240 billion.
The group is tasked to monitor the tax compliance insurance companies amidst reports of tax
payment delinquency.The BIR disclosed earlier that there are non-life insurers especially those servicing owners of private and public utility vehicles who do not pay documentary stamp tax. Of 4.5 million motor vehicles registered with the Land Transportation Office in 2003, only 850, 000 paid their DST.
In the meantime, the TWG have began to discuss with involved agencies the non-life insurers’
request for the suspension of the two percent creditable withholding tax being withheld by the top 10, 000 companies on their insurance premiums. They are also reviewing requests to suspend the ten percent creditable withholding tax being withheld by the nonlife insurers on gross commissions to brokers.
The non-life companies said there is difficulty in the implementation of these creditable with-
holding taxes since most of the top 10, 000 companies dea