The Philippine government is set to relaunch bidding for a one-year program to insure public assets from natural catastrophes.
National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said that there will be a rebidding among interested reinsurers for a national indemnity insurance programme of the state-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Inquirer reported.
According to De Leon, there was a failed bid for the scheme in December 2019. This was despite the GSIS extending the deadline for reinsurers to submit their bids by one week. The contract was supposed to be effective for one year, beginning December 19, 2019.
The January 12 eruption of the Taal Volcano on the Philippines’ largest island of Luzon has highlighted the importance of insurance for natural disasters in the country, which is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is frequented by an average of 20 tropical cyclones each year.
Taal Volcano is located in the densely populated Southern Tagalog region, and is just 60km south of the capital city of Manila. It is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to the number of people living in close proximity of it. Around one million residents live within a 17-kilometre danger zone around the volcano, and the area is also a hotspot for agriculture and tourism.
