One of the leading mutual benefit associations (MBAs) in the country is the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines Inc. (KCFAPI). As of end 2017, it has total assets of P5.5 billion. It has a number of majority-owned and wholly owned companies that supplement its advocacies for its members. Among these are the Keys Realty and Development Corp., the Kompass Credit and Financing Corp., Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels, and the Mace Insurance Agency Inc. At one point, in 1983, it acquired an insurance company, the Philippine Asia Life Assurance Corp., which it sold in 1998. The total insurance contribution as of end of 2017 was P719.2 million.
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) has been in existence in the Philippines for over a century, having been established by a group of Americans as the Knights of Columbus Council 1000 in Intramuros, Manila, on April 23, 1905. In 1907, the first Filipinos were admitted into the Council. The Order of the Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by Fr. Michael J. McGivney at Saint Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, with mostly Irish industrial workers as its members. Since its inception, Manila Council 1000 has been at the service of the Archbishop of Manila. As of 2017, it has 394,012 Knights in the Philippines. The K of C has been described by Pope John Paul II as “the strong right arm of the Catholic Church.”
Its fraternal service started early. After the Second World War, the K of C organized the Catholic Welfare Organization to assist the victims of the war with special emphasis on “educational, charitable, religious, social, war relief and public relief work.” Soon the Columbian Farmers’ Aid Association was formed in November 1951 to render assistance to the countryside and “to bring social justice to the farmers of the Philippines.”
In February 1958, the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines Inc. was established, and together with it, the insurance system for its members and other cooperative works.
The creation of an insurance system for the K of C became imminent during the time of Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ, the first District Deputy for the Philippines. Rev. Fr. Willmann first came to the Philippines in 1922 to teach at the Ateneo de Manila. Fr. Willman was granted Philippine citizenship through Presidential Decree 740. He died at the age of 80 on September 14, 1977, at Murray Weigel Hall, Fordham University. His body was buried at the Jesuits cemetery in Novaliches, Quezon City.
On July 18, 1958, Bro. Roman Mabanta, as chairman of the Special Insurance Committee, called on all Grand Knights of the 152 councils to contribute at least P500 each and be qualified to become founder-members of the KCFAPI.
On August 1, 1958, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the incorporation of KCFAPI.
On September 9, 1958, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner granted a license to KCFAPI, as a mutual benefit association, with an initial capitalization of P32,000 collected from 64 founder-members, 18 councils and 46 Brother Knights.
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Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.