Making insurance more relevant, accessible to Filipinos
Newly-appointed Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA) President and Etiqa Philippines’ President & CEO Rico T. Bautista envisions making life and health insurance accessible to Filipinos from all walks of life.
As Filipinos become more concerned about their health and well-being, the country’s life insurance industry has seen unprecedented growth due to the global pandemic. The ongoing health crisis has certainly brought life insurance to the top of mind of more Filipinos over the past two years. As demand for insurance grows in the face of the ongoing pandemic, newly-appointed Philippine Life Insurance Life Association, Inc. (PLIA) President Rico T. Bautista is on a mission to make insurance more relevant and accessible for Filipinos.
Bautista, who has more than two decades of sales-management and business-building experience under his belt, says that protecting the lives of Filipinos while providing financial security, including health, savings, and investments instruments, will be his priority as the 2022 PLIA President. As head of the umbrella organization of all life insurance companies operating in the country, Bautista is urging members to become more involved in increasing people’s awareness about the services and benefits of having life insurance.
Aligned with the organization’s vision of upholding the highest ethical standards in the conduct of life insurance operations, Bautista envisions PLIA to be an “active contributor to the country’s social and national development, through its significant investments in government bonds and securities; the insurance and corporate taxes that it adds to the national coffers; and the Corporate Social Responsibility programs that it undertakes.”
Coming from his experience as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Etiqa Philippines, Bautista underscored the value of making insurance more relevant to Filipinos because of the country’s highly underinsured population. “We believe that a well-informed insuring public is one key dependency to enabling a significant improvement in the insurance penetration rate in the country,” he adds.
Bautista, who will be guided by the presidential theme “Navigate to Elevate!”, emphasizes that he will continue to champion and represent the industry’s concerns and issues to regulators, government and non-government agencies, and international groups. He adds: “Maintaining the close working relationship between PLIA and the Insurance Commission is critical to the achievement of our industry’s objectives. We are fortunate to have a responsive and empathetic regulator as a partner in charting the growth and development of the life insurance industry.”
The current PLIA President has called for unity and collaboration among the officers and staff of the member companies. He also pledged to support the government’s thrust on financial inclusion by promoting business growth among member companies.
About the Philippine Life Insurance Life Association, Inc.
Founded in 1950, the Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. (PLIA) is a non-stock, non-profit umbrella organization of all life insurance companies operating in the country. PLIA promotes the growth of the life insurance industry in the Philippines by being an active contributor to the country’s socio-economic development. Currently, PLIA has 31 member companies.