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

THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Thursday raised Alert Level 3 over Taal volcano after its main crater spewed a 'short-lived dark phreato-magmatic plume one kilometer-high with no accompanying volcanic earthquake'. 'This means that there is magmatic intrusion at the main crater that may further drive succeeding eruptions,' Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum told The Manila Times. Phivolcs recommended the evacuation of those living near Taal Volcano Island (TVI) and in the high-risk villages of Agoncillo and Laurel, Batangas due to possible hazards of pyroclastic density currents and volcanic tsunami.

The sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas produced by Taal Volcano has reached Metro Manila and some neighboring provinces, according to PHIVOLCS. READ: https://bit.ly/3w8o1rL ′′ The pollution that we see in Kamaynilaan is really worsened because of the temperature inversion... but because of the arrival of sulfur dioxide gas over Metro Manila, the view of our countrymen around Metro Manila became more hazy," explained by PHIVOLCS Officer-in-Charge and Science and Technology Undersecretary Renato Solidum Jr.

The Insurance Commission (IC) said it is working on a program of incentives to encourage non-life insurance companies to participate in the upcoming Philippine Catastrophe Insurance Facility (PCIF), including tax breaks. Deputy Insurance Commissioner Erickson H. Balmes said in a forum Tuesday that the World Bank proposed the study of possible tax incentives the government can offer associated with the PCIF to make it more attractive and sustainable. “Last month in our last meeting, the World Bank announced that they are going to be engaging a tax expert to look into how to create tax incentives for the pool so that in lean years, (tax) will be collected, and in good years, the tax incentive will be applied,” Mr. Balmes said during the roundtable arranged by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He said the IC aims to promote participation in the catastrophe pool by offering tax breaks. He did not elaborate, saying only that the details of the proposal are under review.