What every Filipino — and every insurer — needs to understand about the world we are living in now. LET’s be honest with each other. No one planned for this. For generations, Filipinos have survived by being resilient. We pick ourselves up after every typhoon, rebuild after every earthquake, and somehow find a way to smile through it all. That “diskarte” — that instinctive, improvisational toughness — is one of our greatest national gifts. But resilience alone, without a plan

WHEN people hear “Middle East crisis,” they think geopolitics. Insurers think in transmission lines: oil, shipping, credit and household cash flow. For an oil-importing, trade-dependent Philippines, a distant conflict can raise costs at home within days. The chain of events is straightforward. Conflict risk rises, then markets price the possibility that ships will avoid key choke points or that ports and terminals become unsafe. The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most critic

WHEN the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight on Jan. 27, 2026 — the closest it has ever been to global catastrophe — it was not merely updating a symbol. It was issuing an indictment. An indictment of failed leadership, collapsing cooperation, unmanaged technological risk and a global system increasingly unable to absorb shocks. For many, this warning will again feel abstract — another grim headline in an already anxious world.

By Michael F. Rellosa On January 27, 2026 , the world will again pause for an unusual ritual: the unveiling of the Doomsday Clock —a symbolic measure of how close humanity is to self-destruction. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board , joined this year by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa , will announce the new setting and explain why the world is—or is not—moving closer to midnight. The question being asked is simple and unsettling: Will we

THE appointment of Markus Lacanilao as the new chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in October 2025 has been met with cautious optimism from many quarters. The LTO, an institution essential to the daily movement of millions of Filipinos, has long faced challenges relating to operational bottlenecks, legacy systems and public trust. Lacanilao’s entry into the agency brings with it not just new leadership but an opportunity to recalibrate priorities and strengthen long

THE invitation to the private nonlife insurance industry to join what has been a historically government-dominated terrain of agricultural risk is not just timely — it is essential. In the Philippines, the agricultural insurance sector has long been shouldered by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC). But the government’s recent move to open the field to private insurers signals a paradigm shift — one that offers industry, farmers and the nation alike a meaningful chance

by Michael F. Rellosa As disruption reshapes the world of insurance, the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) must evolve into a catalyst for innovation, collaboration and national resilience. OUR industry stands at a crossroads. The Philippine insurance sector, once viewed as stable and traditional, now faces a wave of disruption that tests its very foundations. Economic uncertainty, political scrutiny, climate risk, digital transformation and shifting custo

By Michael F. Rellosa As I write, Typhoon Ragasa, the strongest typhoon anywhere in the world in 2025 thus far, made its power felt, with...