Philippines: Municipalities fall behind in insuring government properties
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Sep 2023
Less than half of local government properties were insured with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) as of 31 December 2022, according to the agency.
While first-class municipalities are mandated to insure their properties, not all of them are fully compliant, reported Rappler.com. The GSIS observed that at least 9% of first-class cities and 28.18% of first-class municipalities had not secured insurance for their properties.
The GSIS reported that merely 31.69% of second- to sixth-class municipalities had opted to insure their properties.
This was revealed during a senate committee deliberation on 1 August 2023, on a bill that seeks to require local governments to insure all of their buildings and physical structures. At present, the Property Insurance Law requires every level of government, except a municipal government below first class, to insure its properties.
In the bill’s explanatory note, senator JV Ejercito highlighted the vulnerability of the Philippines to natural disasters. Citing a report from the Asian Centre for Flood Control, he said eight of the world’s 10 most disaster-prone cities were in the country.
On average, 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, according to the weather bureau. A