Senators press passage of Pre-Need Code

MANILA, Philippines - Senators Edgardo Angara and Manuel Roxas II said the new Pre-Need Code would be deliberated in the bicameral conference committee by next month and that they would ensure necessary safeguards for the policyholders would be put in place in the final version of the bill.

Angara renewed calls for the urgent passage of the new law to regulate pre-need companies and to protect the interests of planholders. He said the new code would also provide the pre-need industry its much needed lift.

“It is imperative that we ensure that funds of these pre-need companies meet the long-term promises of the contracts. The government has to make sure that pre-need firms are able to maintain sufficient funds to cope and comply with their contracts,” Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, said.

“The pre-need sector is a vital part of the national economy and it has yet to realize its full growth potentials. The regulatory framework, in turn, will provide the environment that will allow the pre-need firms to be stronger, bigger, and more stable so that in turn could protect the public who invest in these pre-need companies,” Angara added.

Angara explained the deregulation of tuition in 1992 resulted in the unforeseen tremendous increase in the obligations of pre-need companies and that bad management and investment decisions made by pre-need companies also contributed to their problems.

 “These actions have not been properly regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a long time, in view of the lack of funding and regulatory framework for the industry. That is what we hope to change,” Angara said.

According to Angara, there are close to four million planholders holding policies worth P66 billion.