According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), a total of 13,000 Metro Manila fire incidents
were recorded in 2022 alone. While the number of fire incidents decreased by 4.02% based on
the recent statistics last December, the damage to property and the loss of lives remain high.

For the first two months of 2023, a series of fire incidents has already hit the country, especially
in Metro Manila, Davao City, and Iloilo; with 94 cases recorded in the first four days of March
alone, leaving 20.4 million pesos worth of damages. With the high incidence of conflagration,
the BFP further stepped up its awareness-building efforts especially as March is considered Fire
Prevention Month in the Philippines.

For many years now, Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokerage, Inc. (CLIB) has worked with the
BFP in observance Fire Prevention Month. These include information dissemination drives from
both organizations, as well as community engagement in driving the importance of prevention
and safety especially during summer months where incidents of fire tend to increase. Part of its
community-engagement efforts is Cebuana Lhuillier’s constant presence and rapid response to
Ka-Cebuanas whose communities fall victim to fire.

“Our efforts in reaching more communities, especially those in the far-flung locations, during
incidence of fire has always been part of the service provided by Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance
Brokerage to the community it serves. Our goal is to be able to serve the most vulnerable of our
kababayans during times of disasters like fires. More than just providing them information on
how to protect themselves during emergencies, we also wanted to ensure our clients that we
are actively present and accessible when they need us the most. This highlights our
commitment to be our Ka-Cebuanas partners at every stage of their journey towards financial
inclusion–especially during the most difficult of times when they will need the funds to start
anew,” shared Jean Henri Lhuillier, president & CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier, a parent company of
CLIB.

The physical and economic loss brought by fire is especially difficult for the ordinary folk whose
lives are expectedly upended due to this. For the residents of Barangay 310 in Santa Cruz,
Tondo, Manila and Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City. Cebuana Lhuillier helped with
their insurance and cash assistance. Picking up the pieces of a hurtful life and finding ways to
keep living is challenging. They see the condition as an opportunity to take another step in their
lives.

It’s for this same reason that Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokerage, Inc. (CLIB) has made it a
point to be the first on-site to better serve clients who availed of its flagship product, Cebuana
Lhuillier ProtectMax. In 2022, ProtectMax released a total of PHP 6.4M worth of fire insurance
claims to many of our kababayans. CLIB released ₱65,000 worth of claims to 5 people at Santa
Cruz, Tondo, Manila while ₱145,000 was awarded to 9 claimants in Addition Hills at
Mandaluyong.

“Nagulat ako, hindi ko ito inaasahan na makakatanggap kami ng ganito mula sa asawa ko,
miyembro sya ng ProtectMax kaya blessing ito para sa amin ng mga anak ko. Binigyan po
kaming pamilya ko ng Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokerage na fifteen thousand pesos,
maraming salamat sa tulong po ninyo sa naranasang pighati namin sa nangyari. Malaking
tulong ito para makabangon kami ng pakonti-konti. Kahit papaano binigyan kami ng pag-asa
upang magsimula muli,” said by Erlinda who shared with her experience on cash assistance
program on the event.

Since it was founded two decades ago, CLIB has grown to be the country’s foremost provider of
microinsurance with more than 8 million Filipinos covered by their microinsurance product.
Anthony M. Bernabe, First Vice President and Head of CLIB is proud to share his vision of
inclusive insurance for all, “We are committed to bringing microinsurance to every Filipino,
especially our marginalized kababayans who work hard to earn an honest living for their
families. We believe that insurance should be accessible and affordable for all. That’s why CLIB
will continue improving our products and services, ensuring that Filipinos will always have the
chance to rise anew.”

Cebuana Lhuillier ProtectMax is an affordable microinsurance product available in more than
3,000 branches of Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop nationwide. For only PHP50 for a 4-month
coverage, ProtectMax provides the following benefits: Accidental Death Benefit, Murder and
Unprovoked Assault, Fire Cash Assistance, Accidental Disablement, and Sickness Emergency
Cash Assistance.