The Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. (PLIA) has re-elected Sun Life Philippines CEO and Country Head Benedict Sison to the PLIA Board and as the group’s President. It will be his second term to lead the organization of local life insurers. The election was held on November 24, 2020 during PLIA’s annual business meeting.
“I am honored to be given a fresh mandate to continue leading the Association,” Sison said. “This will allow me to pursue the completion of our ongoing initiatives and creating new ones that will enable our industry to rise above the challenges presented by the prevailing pandemic.”
During his first term as President, Sison led PLIA in working with the Insurance Commission (IC) to establish regulatory initiatives to allay the adverse impact of the pandemic. Among those implemented were the online product approval process, digitally-enabled selling facility, an online portal for submission of regulatory reports, and relief from the minimum net worth and Risk-Based Capital requirements.
On his second term as PLIA leader, Sison is looking forward to working with other elected members of the 2021 PLIA Board of Directors in further strengthening the life insurance industry. These directors include AXA Philippines President and CEO Rahul Hora (elected Vice President); Country Bankers Insurance Group Senior Vice President and General Manager Geraldine Desiderio-Garcia (elected as Secretary); First Life Financial President and CEO Peter Coyiuto (Treasurer); and Philam Life CEO Kelvin Ang, Beneficial Life President and CEO Jaime Fernandez, Etiqa Philippines President and CEO Rico Bautista, Troo President and CEO Dominik Smeets, and Philinterlife President Jose Lee (as Directors).
“Among the Board’s priorities are working with the IC in launching a facility for the conduct of online agent qualifying examination, initiating the review of the current insurance e-commerce regulations to support financial inclusion, and connecting with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in enabling insurance companies to offer affordable retirement programs for micro, small, and medium enterprises through the issuance of a limited trust license,” Sison disclosed. “The Board will work closely together in promoting the interests of the industry alongside with those of the insuring public.”