Empowering Cebu with insurance

Resisting the urge to write about the ICC, at least until we receive a fresh update, allow me to share an excerpt of my keynote message, delivered at the 72nd Anniversary of the Cebu Insurers Club on 14 March 2025, which coincided with the induction of its new set of officers, led by President Jerry Ycot Delos Santos of Milestone Guaranty and Assurance Corp., with the theme, “Empowering Cebu: Insurance for Growth and Prosperity,” to wit:

It is known that insurance is a tool for economic development. We are in 2025, and so far, so good. The first months of the year featured nearly perfect weather. No rains, no floods, no typhoons, only the rising heat levels, triggering the start of the hot summer season. Last year, however, brought about a slew of typhoons towards the end of 2024, but was far less than the strong typhoons recorded in previous years, particularly what we encountered in December 2021 with typhoon “Odette”, which ravaged the Province of Cebu, bringing forth a slew of claims, as you all know very well.

In my DAILY TRIBUNE column last 22 January 2025, I wrote on the California wildfires, and how this huge catastrophic event may serve as a wake-up call for the Philippines. In California, the number of wildfires has grown dramatically in recent decades. While insurance has long been a tool for mitigating financial risks of such disasters, many residents are now discovering that their insurance policies may not provide sufficient coverage. The primary reason is the skyrocketing costs associated with rebuilding homes and businesses in wildfire-prone zones. As fire seasons stretch longer and wildfires grow in intensity, the risks for insurers have increased significantly.

This situation is not unique to California. The Philippines, an archipelago prone to natural disasters ranging from typhoons to earthquakes, could face similar challenges. The Philippines has the highest disaster risk index in the world, according to the 2024 World Risk Report. This means that the Philippines has the lowest coping and adaptive capabilities when it comes to natural disasters. While the country has made strides in disaster risk reduction and preparedness, its insurance industry is still underdeveloped compared to more disaster-prone countries like Japan or the United States.

To relate this to the beautiful Province of Cebu — we have seen you rise from typhoon “Odette” and be more resilient than ever. Cebu is vibrant and progressive that has everything any other city in the Philippines has to offer. But the most important thing that Cebu has, which is the key to empowering your province and to build growth and prosperity, is its “people.” Without a doubt, Cebu is rich with brilliant, technical and creative insurance minds. Cebuanos would have enough grit to take on a challenge, and have strong principles built on trust. You value relationships, which is the hallmark of the insurance business.

Will Cebu be ready should another Odette happen? We can learn something from the company AirBnB: The biggest crisis AirBnB encountered was the Covid-19 pandemic, wherein, according to its founder and CEO Brian Chesky, it lost 80 percent of its business in the first eight weeks of the pandemic. When this happened, Chesky did not become desperate, instead he used this crisis as a defining moment for his leadership and AirBnB. In an interview, he mentioned the following quote of Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel, as his inspiration: “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis, Good companies survive them, Great companies are improved by them.” Has typhoon “Odette” improved your company? If the answer is yes, then you are in the right direction.

For comments, email darren.dejesus@gmail.com.