The Covid-19 pandemic has made Filipinos more conscious of their health and well-being. Due to the health crisis brought about by the pandemic, life insurance has been brought to the top of the minds of Filipinos.
Despite the unprecedented growth of the surety industry, however, the Philippines remains to have a high underinsured population.
This is one of the issues that Etiqa Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Rico T. Bautista seeks to address as the newly-appointed president of the Philippine Life Insurance Life Association, Inc. (PLIA).
According to him, protecting people’s lives while providing financial security, including health, savings, and investments instruments, will be his priority. With his new designation, he plans to make insurance more relevant and accessible to Filipinos.
“We believe that a well-informed insuring public is one key dependency to enabling a significant improvement in the insurance penetration rate in the country,” noted Bautista, who has over 20 years of sales-management and business-building experience.
Champion concerns
Guided by the presidential theme “Navigate to Elevate!” the 2022 PLIA president will also champion and represent the industry’s concerns and issues to regulators, government and non-government agencies, and international groups.
“Maintaining the close working relationship between PLIA and the Insurance Commission is critical to the achievement of our industry’s objectives. We are fortunate to have a responsive and empathetic regulator as a partner in charting the growth and development of the life insurance industry,” he said.
Being the head of the umbrella organization of all life insurance companies in the country, Bautista has called for unity and collaboration among the officers and staff of the member companies, and urged their firms to become more involved in raising public awareness about the services and benefits of having life insurance.
He also pledged to support the government’s thrust on financial inclusion by promoting business growth among members of the organization.
Aligned with PLIA’s vision of upholding the highest ethical standards in the conduct of life insurance operations, Bautista envisions it to be an “active contributor to the country’s social and national development, through its significant investments in government bonds and securities; the insurance and corporate taxes that it adds to the national coffers; and the Corporate Social Responsibility programs that it undertakes.”