MANILA, Philippines — The Insurance Commission (IC) recognized Tuesday the efforts of its partner associations in their contributions to the risk protection of the Filipino low-income sector through microinsurance.

The commission recognized the Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA), Philippine Insurers and Re-Insurers Association (PIRA), Chamber of Mutual Benefit Associations (CHAMBAI) and Association of Health Maintenance Organizations in the Philippines, Inc. (AHMOPHI).

In addition, some 23 microinsurance providers were also honored for their provision of microinsurance products and services geared towards the Filipino poor in 2011.

The month of January was declared as “National Microinsurance Month.”

Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc said this year’s event will highlight the government’s steadfast commitment to uplift the conditions of poor countrymen by providing them access to simple and low-cost protection against risks and unexpected events.”

Microinsurance has been identified as one of the financial inclusion priorities of Government in its 2011-2016 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan.

Currently, the Philippines lags behind its neighbours in terms of insurance penetration which hovers at below 14 percent of total population.

Prior to this year’s culminating event, the IC and the Department of Finance-National Credit Council (DoF-NCC) conducted the Training on Microinsurance Advocacy (TOMA) for various stakeholders.

Participants came from both national agencies and local governments, insurance providers, microfinance institutions, support institutions, donor agencies and non-government organizations.

The training is geared towards creating a core mass of advocates in the government and private sectors in increasing awareness of the general public on the importance of insurance for risk protection.

The government’s microinsurance initiative is provided technical assistance support from various multilateral agencies such as the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction-Asian Development Bank (JFPR-ADB) and the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) for its potential to help alleviate poverty in the Philippines.