Located along the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire” and having five major fault lines, the Philippines is no stranger to earthquakes and is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. On July 16, 1990, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck northern and central Luzon Island in the Philippines. This powerful quake resulted in several collapsed buildings, left an estimated $369-million worth of damages, and a total of 2,412 people dead. Among the areas severely affected were the mountain city of Baguio; the coastal areas in La Union; Dagupan city in Pangasinan; and the central plain area--primarily Cabanatuan city in Nueva Ecija and mountainous Nueva Vizcaya. The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 4:26 p.m., was north of Manila in the Nueva Ecija province. According to reports, the shaking went on for nearly a full minute. Collapsing buildings were the main cause of damage and death. Many people were injured and some even died in stampedes trying to flee from multi-story buildings. One of the most memorable scenes from the quake was the collapse of the Liwag Building of the Christian College of the Philippines (CCP). Approximately 250 students and teachers were trapped inside. Many were saved due to heroic rescue efforts but some victims who did not die in the collapse were found dead later from dehydration because they were not pulled out in time. Baguio is a major tourist destination and the principal trade and educational center in the Cordillera region. All types of buildings, including several resort hotels in Baguio, suffered tremendous damage. Damage to homes and the occurrence of many aftershocks caused most of the city’s 100,000 residents to set up camps in open spaces in the city and sleep outdoors that evening. Workers pulled bodies from the demolished buildings for days but rescue efforts were hampered severely. The city was inaccessible by land because of landslides and inaccessible by air, except to helicopters, because of damage at the airport. Hundreds of motorists were stranded on the roads and a chemical factory fire outside of Baguio also caused terrible damage. The Tuba gold and copper mine in the area lost 30 workers when a mine collapsed. Sitting on at least seven fault lines, Baguio is now listed as one of the most risk-prone cities in Asia. Aside from the risk of earthquakes, the area’s high annual rainfall increases the likelihood of deadly landslides. The area suffered another disaster less than a year later when Mount Pinatubo erupted. Some geologists believe there’s a connection between the two events. The earthquake left not only massive damage and casualties but also lessons about disaster readiness. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Director Dr. Renato Solidum said the 1990 earthquake left four valuable lessons: the public needs to respond properly during earthquakes, hazards and their effects should be simulated, building codes should be implemented properly, and land use should be carefully planned. By Alyanna Tabucanon Sources: https://www.iccsafe.org/building-safety-journal/bsj-hits/remembering-the-1990-luzon-earthquake-that-wreaked-havoc-in-the-philippines/?fbclid=IwAR2uat2YDV_8oCLr8-iEgKo2IDLoU4nOS1HyESpNNhVMqs6_0wC8Z2NL3oM https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001734.htm https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquake-wreaks-havoc-in-the-philippines https://onenews.ph/this-earthquake-resilient-table-for-kindergaten-is-filipino-made

Global insurance and reinsurance leaders establish alliance to accelerate transition to net-zero emissions economy Net-Zero Insurance Alliance committed to join Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and UN Race to Zero; plus Net-Zero Banking Alliance and Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance announce updates Eight of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers have established the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) as founding members, committing to transition their insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. As risk managers, insurers and investors, the insurance industry has a key role in supporting the transition to a net-zero economy. NZIA members will individually set science-based intermediate targets every five years and independently report on their progress publicly and annually to contribute to achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, in cooperation with the respective competition authorities. All eight NZIA founding members are part of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) established in 2019, where they are already individually setting science-based 2025 decarbonisation targets for their respective investment portfolios in line with a net-zero transition pathway. The NZIA has committed to join the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). Chaired by Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, GFANZ brings together the leading net-zero financial alliances within the UN’s Race to Zero campaign, representing over $88 trillion assets, to work together to accelerate the transition of the financial sector and the global economy to net-zero emissions. Geneva/Venice, 11 July 2021—As the G20 gathers in Venice for its Climate Summit, eight of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers make a historic commitment to play their part in accelerating the transition to a net-zero emissions economy, as required by the Paris Agreement. The companies have established the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), convened by UNEP Finance Initiative’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), and have committed to transition their insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. Each company decides how it will achieve this objective. The eight founding members of the NZIA are AXA (NZIA Chair), Allianz, Aviva, Generali, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich Insurance Group. They are building on their climate leadership as investors through their membership in the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) established in 2019, where all eight NZIA founding members are already individually setting science-based 2025 decarbonisation targets for their respective investment portfolios in line with a net-zero transition pathway. Equally, based on the NZIA Statement of Commitment launched today, these global insurers and reinsurers will individually set science-based intermediate targets every five years and independently report on their progress publicly and annually. They will also advocate for and engage in governmental policies for a science-based and socially just transition of economic sectors to net zero. “Through the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance launched in 2019, insurers and reinsurers are already working towards decarbonising their investment portfolios in line with climate science and the Paris Agreement,” said Thomas Buberl, CEO of the AXA Group, which chairs the NZIA. “With this new Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, we are raising our climate ambition further by using our underwriting, claims, and risk management practices to help ensure and enable the transition to a resilient net-zero global economy.” The commitments that the Alliance members announced today include concrete approaches that they can take to achieve their net-zero ambition on an individual basis. These include setting underwriting criteria and guidelines for the most GHG-intensive activities within their underwriting portfolios, engaging with clients and potential clients with the most GHG-intensive activities on their decarbonisation strategies and net-zero transition pathways, developing and offering insurance and reinsurance solutions for low-emission and zero-emission technologies and nature-based solutions that absorb GHG emissions, improving claims management in an environmentally sustainable manner, and integrating net-zero and decarbonisation-related risk criteria into their risk management frameworks. “For generations, the insurance industry has served as society’s early warning system and risk manager by understanding, reducing, pricing and carrying risk. As we approach COP26 in Glasgow, the risks posed by global heating are escalating and the world is a long way from meeting the promises made when the Paris Climate Agreement was forged nearly six years ago,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). “Along with governments, the insurance industry and wider financial sector have the power and responsibility to drive progress towards a net-zero economy and a sustainable future for all. Guided by science, I am pleased to see leading insurers embed the net-zero ambition in their core insurance business. I urge the rest of the global insurance industry to respond to the climate emergency and urgently follow the example set by the founding members of this pioneering alliance.” The NZIA Statement of Commitment is a comprehensive framework and considers the latest available scientific knowledge and associated social impacts, as well as findings of recognised reports such as those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero by 2050 report. It includes supporting the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), considering emerging frameworks such as the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and signing the UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI). The Statement also recommends that insurers transition their investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions and join initiatives such as the NZAOA for a total balance sheet approach to net zero. “Having a global financial system where every professional decision takes climate change into account requires harnessing the full role of the insurance industry as risk managers, insurers and investors for climate action,” said Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action & Finance, the UK Prime Minister’s Finance Adviser for COP26, and Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. “By committing to join the gold standard alliance for net zero, the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance will ultimately make underwriting contingent on underlying companies having credible net-zero transition strategies.” In the run up to COP26 this November, the NZIA membership is expected to grow to include insurers, reinsurers, brokers and insurance market bodies from across the globe. The NZIA is now getting ready to join the UN Race to Zero campaign in order to become officially part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) chaired by Mark Carney. GFANZ brings together the leading net-zero initiatives across the financial system. All GFANZ initiatives, including the NZIA, must be accredited by the UN Race to Zero campaign, and are committed to the highest standards to reach net-zero emissions, including covering all emission scopes, individual interim 2030 targets, and commit to transparent reporting and accounting in line with the Race to Zero criteria. The NZIA will immediately start working with the UN Race to Zero conveners to fulfil their accreditation criteria. The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), established in April 2021 by 43 founding banks, and also convened by UNEP Finance Initiative, has now grown to 53 banks from 27 countries with US$ 37 trillion in total assets – representing almost a quarter of banking assets worldwide1. 10 additional members have joined since launch: ABANCA, AIB, Banco Bradesco S.A., Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, Groupe BPCE, MUFG, Nationwide Building Society and Swedbank. The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), jointly convened by the Principles for Responsible Investment and UNEP Finance Initiative, which was launched in September 2019 with 12 insurers and pension funds, now has 46 members representing nearly US$ 7 trillion in assets. Source: un.org Further resources Visit the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance website: www.unepfi.org/net-zero-insurance

At the core of this intensive and hands-on 4-day online programme is the ASEAN Reinsurance Programme Design & Buying Team Challenge whereby participants from the various ASEAN countries are divided into teams to compete using a specially-designed Case Study of a generic insurance company. It serves as the Capstone Programme for those who had previously attended modules under the ASEAN Reinsurance Programme. The teams are judged largely based on technical competence, teamwork and communication/presentation skills. In the mornings, they will attend a series of presentations including The Nuts & Bolts of Catastrophe Modelling and Pandemic Led Exclusions in Reinsurance, along with a series of refresher presentations courses on Proportional Reinsurance, Non-Proportional Reinsurance, Treaty Wordings and Reinsurance Accounting which are foundational knowledge blocks for the Case Study. In the afternoons, participants will join their pre-allocated teams to work on their Case Study. The teams will be supported by a pool of experienced reinsurance brokers and reinsurers who will act as their “mentors and coaches”. On the last day, participants will be presenting their reinsurance programme to a panel of judges, comprising senior reinsurance brokers and reinsurers. It will end with a 2-hour session which includes debrief, feedback on the presentations and sharing of a model solution by the Programme Master based on the Case Study. The highlight will be the presentation of the Team Challenge Award to the team which designs the most effective Reinsurance Programme. participants can register at: https:www.scicollege.org.sg/Course/GetCourseHtml?CSID=21RBD01 Copyright © 2021 ASEAN Insurance Council, All rights reserved. Our Mailing Address is : ASEAN Insurance Council Permata Kuningan Building 2nd Floor, Jl. Kuningan Mulia Kav. 9C Guntur Setiabudi Jakarta Selatan - DKI Jakarta 12960

6 Reasons to Read Your Policy Documents: 1. Your policy contains important dates. 2. Underneath all that jargon is important stuff. 3. Your policy tells you what you’re covered for. 4. Your policy contains your policy limits. 5. Your policy sets out important conditions. 6. Reading your policy helps you stay on top of modifications.

Speaker: Mr. Alvin Arogo – VP and Head of PNB’s Research Division Mr. Miguel Veneracion – Relationship Officer, Multinationals Division

BREAKING: The military concludes its rescue and retrieval operations on the Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft that crashed in Patikul, Sulu, leaving 50 dead — the country's deadliest military air disaster in at least four decades.

Drone footage reveals the destruction caused by a fire in Cainta, the Philippines. At least 145 families have lost their homes in a blaze that engulfed a residential area in the city of Cainta on June 29. Officials said that 75 houses were lost in the fire.

The pandemic has brought to the forefront the importance of prioritizing the health and financial security of our families. Insurance aims to protect society, businesses, and individuals from loss and to help them recover when such loss or damage occurs. Yet, insurance penetration rates in the Philippines are among the lowest in Asia. Insurance Commission (IC) data shows insurance penetration, defined as insurance premiums as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), at only 1.69% percent as of September 2020. The majority of Filipinos perceive insurance – an intangible product – as complex and confusing. In addition, current products and means of distribution are often expensive compared to need or ability to pay. UBX aims to simplify insurance with Assured, UBX’s new embeddable insurance platform. UBX, named the Fastest Growing Fintech Company in South East Asia in 2021 by Global Banking and Finance Review, is launching Assured together with insurtech partner Coherent. UBX has partnered with global insurance giant Chubb to underwrite the pioneer product which is embedded as a feature of one of their prominent financial service offerings. Assured is an insurance platform that virtualizes insurance packaging and experience by delivering multiple protection products from multiple insurance carriers through multiple channels. The first channel leveraging this new platform is i2i, the nation’s fastest growing payments and open finance network which digitally enables financial institutions and other community-based financial service providers. Customers of the hundreds of financial institutions and service providers using i2i can now enjoy UBX Bills Payment Group Personal Accident Insurance underwritten by Chubb as a value-added protection feature when paying their bills via the platform. This insurance provides 30 days of coverage for accidental death and permanent total disablement. Customers are entitled to a lump sum benefit of up to 3 years or 36 times of the enrolled monthly bill amount.

By Herminia S. Jacinto THERE is a remarkable although guarded optimism as we enter the second semester of the year. More and more vaccines have arrived, and more are expected. General Galvez is more confident now that we may achieve herd immunity by the Christmas season. Our horizon seems to be brighter now. Roads, bridges, Skyway and LRT extensions are now open and ready to service our commuters. The much-awaited economic recovery is starting to happen, which will reopen businesses and create more jobs for our people. The insurance industry is very sensitive to the movement in the economy. As factories, stores and other business establishments operate, there are more to be covered by insurance. In an earlier column, this writer mentioned insurance companies were ready to serve clients not long after lockdowns started. It was "business as usual" with some changes, but the insurance industry was ready to serve the needs of its clients immediately. One positive change is operations are more efficient because of digitalization. But there are still problems to be addressed. Source: manilatimes.net

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail" - Benjamin Franklin