After Christmas, Before the New Year: A Call to Our Industry and Our Country

By Michael F. Rellosa - Executive Director

Christmas Day has passed, but the season remains—and perhaps this quiet stretch between the holidays and the New Year is where its meaning settles deepest.

This is the time when families return to work, businesses prepare their next moves, and many Filipinos begin to think again about what the year has brought: the joys, the hardships, and the uncomfortable truth that no matter how hard we work, certain risks remain beyond our control.

For the Philippines, that truth is not abstract. We live with typhoons, floods, earthquakes, fires, health threats, economic disruptions, and increasingly, digital risks. We experience uncertainty in ways that can undo years of progress in a matter of hours. Every year, the list of vulnerabilities grows, and the consequences become harder to ignore.

That is why this moment is important for the Philippine insurance industry.

Because insurance is not simply a business. It is a promise. A social mechanism. A stabilizing force. And in a country as exposed as ours, it should be one of the strongest pillars of resilience we can offer.

Yet if we are honest with ourselves—as leaders, professionals, and stewards of this industry—we know there is still work to be done.

The protection gap remains wide. Too many Filipinos remain uninsured or underinsured. Trust, while improving, remains fragile. And some who do have coverage still experience insurance as complicated, slow, or distant from their real needs.

This is not a season for blaming. It is a season for reflection—and then for action.

The Role We Were Built For

Insurance exists because a society accepts a moral and practical truth: people should not face catastrophe alone. When done well, insurance enables families to recover with dignity. It allows businesses to rebuild and keep workers employed. It helps communities stand up again after disasters. And it reduces the long-term dependency that often follows emergencies, especially among those already struggling.

If this is our mission, then our success cannot be measured only by premiums, profits, or market share. Those are important indicators—but incomplete.

Our true scorecard is much larger:

• Did we expand access meaningfully?

• Did we strengthen trust in our systems?

• Did we pay claims fairly, clearly, and promptly?

• Did we make protection understandable, not intimidating?

• Did we help the country become more prepared—not merely more insured?

  
  

These are the questions a New Year should ask of an industry like ours.

A Word to Our Stakeholders

To insurers and reinsurers: we are underwriting the future. Discipline and solvency must remain non-negotiable—but so must our willingness to design solutions that meet people where they are, not only where profitability is easiest. Sustainable growth and social relevance must no longer be treated as competing goals.

To agents, brokers, and intermediaries: you remain the human face of this industry. You do not simply sell policies—you shape belief. When you educate ethically and recommend responsibly, you protect not only customers but the credibility of the entire sector.

To claims teams and front-line service leaders: you carry the moment of truth. A claim is not a transaction—it is a policyholder’s crisis. In those moments, insurance becomes either a lifeline or a disappointment. How we show up then will determine whether people trust us again.

To boards and investors: our long-term stability rests on public confidence. Every decision that prioritizes short-term gain over policyholder experience risks weakening the foundation that keeps this business viable.

To regulators and association leaders: the public expects protection ecosystems, not fragmented processes. Collaboration, modernization, and consistent enforcement are not luxuries—they are expectations.

To our technology and innovation partners: digital transformation must do more than speed up processes. It must widen the door. Innovation must make protection more accessible, more understandable, and more inclusive—especially to those who need it most.

And to every professional across the industry—underwriters, actuaries, compliance teams, operations, finance, customer care—I want to say this plainly:

You are part of one of the most consequential missions in Philippine society.

Your work determines whether a family rebuilds—or breaks—after loss.

Trust Is Our Greatest Asset

Many industries compete for customers. The insurance industry must first earn belief.

Trust is not built through marketing. It is built through clarity, consistency, and lived experience—especially at claim time. It is built through transparency in what is covered and what is not. It is built by rejecting unethical practices wherever they exist. It is built by making insurance simple enough for people to understand, and fair enough for people to embrace.

If we want to spur a healthier insurance culture in the Philippines, we must treat trust as our most important asset—because without it, insurance is only paper.

The Opportunity of the New Year

The Philippines will not suddenly become less exposed to risk. If anything, exposure will grow.

But we can decide that the nation will not remain equally vulnerable.

The coming year can be the year our industry deepens its purpose: becoming more transparent, more responsive, more inclusive, and more essential to national resilience.

And if we do that—if we move beyond merely selling policies toward building real protection—then perhaps years from now we will look back and say:

This was the season we stepped into the role we were meant to play.

Not only as an industry, but as a pillar of national recovery and preparedness.

That would be a worthy legacy for a New Year.

Happy New Year everyone!