WINSTON Garcia, president and general manager
of state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS),
is questioning the motives of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves
for siding with an alleged insurance cartel which he said has
duped the government of P2 billion for eight years.
Garcia said he was surprised by Teves’
announcement that GSIS has reached a compromise with local
insurers represented by the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers
Association Inc. (PIRA) when there was none.
Garcia also said there was no meeting among
PIRA, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the
Land Transportation Office, the Insurance Commission, and GSIS.
"It is a conduct unbecoming of a government
official. I really question his motives. What is his motive? He
should protect the interest of the government," Garcia said.
He pointed out that "it is not good for the
secretary of finance to go against his fellow cabinet
secretaries" on the compulsory third liability policy (CTPL) for
some 5.8 million vehicle owners in the country.
The CTPL is an insurance policy which
provides up to P100,000 in coverage to third parties killed or
injured in accidents involving insured vehicles.
Garcia has accused nine insurance companies
of controlling more than 90 percent of the lucrative P3.5
billion CTPL business.
He identified these companies as Great
Domestic Insurance, BF General Insurance Co., Plaridel Surety
and Insurance Corp., Security Pacific Insurance, Far Eastern
Surety, Standard Insurance, South Sea Surety and Insurance,
People’s General Insurance, and Acropolis Central Guarantee.
Garcia said Teves should instead support
implementation of DOTC Order No. 2007- 28 that would eliminate
fake CTPL policies.
Under the GSIS proposal, Garcia said fixers
as well as the proliferation of fake CTPLs would be curbed as
the state pension fund through National Reinsurance Corporation
of the Philippines would be the sole provider of accident
insurance for motor vehicles.
Garcia said GSIS would continue to pilot test
the new CTPL scheme as the 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO)
by the Fifth Division of the Court of Appeals and the 20-day TRO
of a Mandaluyong court only restrained the implementation of DOF
Order 2007-28 and not the memorandum of agreement it entered
into with the DOTC and the Insurance Commission.
The Mandaluyong court granted the petition of Belinda
Martisano, a licensed insurance agent, who warned that the
implementation of the CTPL scheme would be unconstitutional and
immoral as it would take away her legitimate source of income. –
Jimmy Calapati
