Speaker: Mr. Joel Durand – Parametric Product Specialist

After being postponed due to the pandemic, we are very delighted to have the Inaugural of ASEAN Agricultural Insurance Working Group (AIWG), which was successfully held virtually on 29 July 2021. The meeting was attended by our esteemed Council Members representatives, with the attendance of our special guest speaker, Mrs. Rose Goslinga. As the founder and CEO of PULA Advisor, Mrs. Goslinga has shared her knowledge and experience in implementing the agricultural insurance within Africa and Asia regions, that will be adopted by the Working Group on its efforts. The establishment of ASEAN AIWG itself is hoped to provide a platform for the agriculture stake-holders, Senior Insurance Leaders, Regulators, and Institutions in the Region. The platform will be a gathering place for practitioners to have a constant dialogue, exchange information, sharing best practice among the ASEAN Member State (AMS) to foster the Agricultural Insurance development in the Region, with the ultimate goal to provide indispensable benefit to the ASEAN people. We wish to express our deepest gratitude for everyone who has been involved and making this possible.

It was the year 1972 — long before one of the greatest typhoons to date, Typhoon Yolanda, ever made a landfall in the Philippines. More than 700 people died due to the immense flooding caused by four consecutive typhoons, namely, Edeng, Gloring, Isang, and Huaning, hitting parts of Luzon for around a month. For the first time in history, the country saw what would be one of the most serious and deadly disasters known to man, “The Great Philippine Floods of 1972”. Calm Before the Storm Flooding in the early 1900s, although not non-existent, was considered to be quite tolerable back then. During the rainy season, the streets of Quiapo, Santa Cruz, and Tondo, among others, reached up to an ankle or worse, only up to knee-level. This wasn’t a problem in terms of transportation even when motorized vehicles became prominent in the 1930’s, as supplies and goods were able to reach those who are flooded with not much of a difficulty. Canals and sewages were also functional and excess water flow in nearby waters such as Manila Bay were well-constricted. Then came July 1972. Rains and increasingly alarming floods were already observed by the end of June that year, but beginning that very month, intermittent heavy rains fell unstoppably which created local flooding in Northern and Central Luzon. In a matter of days stretching to more than a month, things went out of hand. Photo courtesy of Top Gear Rains, Floods, and Aftermaths Continuous landfall of typhoons and tropical depressions succeeding Typhoon Gloring (internationally known as Typhoon Rita) in early July eventually brought the flooding to a neck-deep height. Transportation via land to northern Luzon was halted, water levels reached rooftops of residential houses in some areas, and there were shortages in medicines, food, and drinking water. Ninety percent of Manila was submerged underwater, while provinces Pampanga and Tarlac were almost entirely flooded after also experiencing a series of dam and dike failures. Photo courtesy of Top Gear In order to deliver food and emergency supplies to those affected, improvised bancas (Philippine canoe) were widely used to cross areas. No light or small vehicles were able to run; only buses and large trucks were used as transportation in some parts of Manila. This continued on for roughly six weeks. As the typhoons began to calm down, the flooding also began to dry out. Flooded areas were beginning to re-emerge, and the people were starting to reconstruct their homes and properties. However, the excruciatingly long duration of flood left a costly damage amounting up to $180 million, and approximately 2 million people were affected just by Typhoon Gloring itself. A wake-up call As it turned out, the 1972 catastrophe was only the beginning. Fast forward to September 2009, Typhoon Ondoy fell upon Luzon, affecting 872,097 Filipinos overnight. In 2013, many people lost their loved ones and properties over the strong winds and sea surges brought about by Typhoon Yolanda. Comparing the amount of damages brought by the typhoons in the past to now, it appears that what can happen over weeks back then can happen nowadays in just a day or two. With this in mind, it’s as if nature has already given us a heads-up as to what can happen in the years to come. Filipinos are not strangers to the fact that our country is indeed vulnerable to disasters. Lying directly on the typhoon belt in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, flooding has always been a problem we can never seem to avoid. Decades have passed since the 1972 tragedy occured, and with that, we must have already learned that preparing for a disaster wouldn’t hurt, or at least mitigate damages to life and property. -- Maureen Kate Basa SOURCES: Durdin, F. T. (August 1972). Slowly, Painfully, the Philippines Dries Out. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/14/archives/slowly-painfully-the-philippines-dries-out.html Gordon, A. H. (1973). THE GREAT PHILIPPINE FLOODS OF 1972. Weather, 28(10), 404–415. doi:10.1002/j.1477-8696.1973.tb00793.x Ragodon, R. W. (December 2019). What flooding was like in PH back in the day. Retrieved from https://www.topgear.com.ph/features/feature-articles/history-flooding-philippines-a2597-20191225-lfrm. The New York Times (August 1972). Most of Manila Swept by Floods (Archived). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/02/archives/front-page-1-no-title-most-of-manila-swept-by-floods-philippine.html Sato, Teruko & Nakasu, Tadashi. (2011). 2009 Typhoon Ondoy Flood Disasters in Metro Manila. 10.13140/RG.2.1.2817.5121. Wikipedia (n.d.). 1972 Pacific typhoon season. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Pacific_typhoon_season#Philippines Wikipedia (n.d.). Typhoon Rita (1972). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Rita_(1972)#Philippines

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THE country’s non-life insurance companies are expected to accelerate developing their digital infrastructure and product offerings as the industry continues to adjust to the “new normal” arising from Covid-19 pandemic, according to insurance credit ratings agency AM Best Co. Myles Gould, head of the firm’s analytics for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, said insurers are already responding to Insurance Commission’s move to widen the scope of remote selling by insurance companies in the Philippines, regardless of the amount of premium payable on the policy sold. “It supports the remote selling for a range of products that previously couldn’t be transacted in this way, including SME [small and medium-scale enterprises], and commercial type products,” Gould said during the first “Virtual Philippine Insurance Summit” on July 22. “So these changes are expected to be here to stay.” “As a result, we expect insurers to respond and we are seeing this already, to developing both new and refining existing products to fit more neatly with a digital-based sales environment,” Gould said during the last day of the two-day summit on industry updates and discussions on environmental issues, pandemics, innovation and disaster management. Moreover, Gould said they also expect product innovation and market campaigns via digital mediums to grow. AM Best also said all these developments are seen to present opportunities for competitive advantage and cost efficiencies. Source: businessmirror.com.ph

Following the informative session early this month, the IIAP is back again with 'Reinsurance Planning and Structuring' in the beginning of August! Have yourself ready by accessing here.

Are you the one for this year and ready to face the challenge? Set SAIL and advance further! The ASEAN School of Advanced Insurance Leadership (SAIL) programme is intended as a prestigious, advanced programme that will serve as an extension to the successful ASEAN School for Young Insurance Managers (AYIM), which is aimed at building and nurturing a pool of future leadership talent for the ASEAN insurance markets. In conjunction with the 4th ASEAN Insurance Summit and 12th AYIM, the 5th SAIL focuses on the topic of “Leading in A Post-Covid World”. Click here to register.

Referring to the online webinar 'ASEAN Capacity Building Regional Webinar Series on Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance in the Agricultural Sector' held on 29 and 30 October, 2020, one of the inputs to the webinar was a study on Disaster Risk Finance Solutions for the Agriculture Sector. The study is now put into publication and with recommendations for ASEAN and ASEAN Member State on disaster risk finance and management solutions. The report is available here.

THE Insurance Commission (IC) once again extended regulatory relief on admittance of Premiums Receivable account for all non-life and professional reinsurance companies as the country’s Covid-19 cases continue to remain at 4-digit levels. Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa signed Circular Letter 2021-43 adjusting the basis for admitting the “Premiums Receivable” account for all these companies from 90 days to 180 days from the date of issuance of policies for reporting year 2021. Funa emphasized the need to further extend the said regulatory relief previously imposed last year as non-life insurance companies continue to provide relief to the insuring public by extending the grace period and allowing installment payments on insurance premiums up to this year. “Extending the grace period and allowing installment arrangements may result to non-admitted Premiums Receivable, which would have an unfavorable impact on the net worth of the insurance companies,” Funa said in the copy of the circular letter dated July 11. In the same circular letter, he said undue installment premiums shall be considered admitted assets as long as the issuance of the policy is within 180 days from the cut-off date. Source: businessmirror.com.ph

Calling our aspiring insurance young leaders – The 12th AYIM is finally right before our eyes. As one of the most anticipated programmes, the ASEAN school for Young Insurance Managers (AYIM) is designed to develop promising, high-potential young insurance managers into multifaceted leaders with an integrated view of management fundamentals and a broad market vision to assume the cross-functional responsibilities expected of company and industry leaders. The programme is targeted at promising, high-potential young insurance managers, between 31-40 years of age, from life and non-life insurance organizations across the ASEAN markets, who have been identified for increasingly significant and broader management roles in their organizations, and as being capable of providing dynamic leadership to their organizations. Have yourself registered – limited seats available. Click here to register.