Catastrophe insurance proposed for ASEAN

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has teamed up with its Southeast Asian neighbors to further promote insurance for catastrophic events and help communities across the region improve their resilience against natural disasters, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

During a forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC recently, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the country has initiated efforts in the national and regional level to mitigate the impacts of climate change and strengthen resilience against natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and typhoons.

“We are working with the different ASEAN countries as well as our different agencies to improve catastrophic reinsurance (programs), and to improve the standards for construction of homes and buildings,” Dominguez said.

“We are (also) working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he said.

According to Dominguez, among the measures initiated by the Philippines for its climate change agenda include the improvement of construction standards for buildings and structures and the construction and rehabilitation of irrigation systems.

The finance chief underscored the need for climate change initiatives as the impact of this phenomenon has been increasingly felt in the Philippines, particularly Mindanao.

“We never had typhoons there. We had typhoons once every 70 years in Mindanao. However, now we are observing that with climate change, the typhoons seem to be forming further south in the Pacific Ocean, and which brings northern Mindanao directly in the path of the typhoons,” he said.

He said this has led to flash floods in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, two of Mindanao’s highly urbanized cities, and in Bukidnon, a major food producer in Southern Philippines.

Recently, the Philippine government established a P1 billion insurance fund under its Parametric Insurance Pilot program, which aims to provide typhoon and earthquake insurance support to disaster prone provinces.

Assistant Secretary Paola Alvarez said the project covers 25 local government units (LGUs), including Aurora, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Cebu, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Laguna, Northern Samar, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal, Sorsogon, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Zambales.

Under the project, the beneficiary-LGUs can avail of insurance cover in the event of a catastrophic earthquake or typhoon from the Government Service Insurance System.

“Because the Bureau of Treasury is the policyholder, the funds will be mobilized faster to the first responders, namely, the national government and the LGUs,” Alvarez said.