The proposed mandatory catastrophe insurance for all households and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has been shelved, an official of the Insurance Commission (IC) said.
IC Deputy Commissioner Vida T. Chiong said the proposal was dropped on Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III’s opposition to the draft executive order seeking to impose a mandatory insurance coverage during natural calamities, such as earthquake and floods, for real properties all over the country.
“The last time that I heard of it from [Insurance] Commissioner [Emmanuel F. Dooc], Secretary Dominguez is against it,” Chiong told the BusinessMirror.
Chiong said Dominguez was particularly against the mandatory nature of the proposed catastrophe insurance.
According to the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (Pira), the mandatory coverage for all households is necessary to allow the insurance pool to gain enough volume and make it sustainable, amid the huge risks for losses on claims due to earthquakes and floods.
Pira is the proponent of the said catastrophe insurance and it helped the IC draft the proposed executive order.
Chiong said the earlier endorsement of Dominguez’s predecessor, former Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, is no longer valid, and the draft executive order will require Dominguez’s endorsement before it could reach President Duterte’s desk.
Dooc, who earlier pushed for the enactment of the draft executive order, still supports the said mandatory catastrophe pool insurance, but the opposition from the Department of Finance effectively shelves the proposal.
“It was already up for signature during the previous administration, but without an endorsement from the secretary of finance, we can’t go forward with it,” Chiong said.