THE government pension fund said it hopes to finally reinsure public school buildings against calamities when it auctions off the reinsurance contract for the National Indemnity Insurance Fund on Wednesday.
In an interview with BusinessWorld, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Vice-President Leopoldo A. Casio, Jr. said that the auction could result in full coverage of school buildings and property controlled by the Department of Education (DepEd).
“This is for DepEd schools because these are uninsured at the moment. DepEd schools are uninsured because of budgetary constraints,” he said.
“The opening of bids will be on Dec. 11 and hopefully the international reinsurers will bid because this is such a large program for the government,” he added.
Mr. Casio said insurance for schools has long been an issue because the properties are worth billions. He added, “It will help in terms of liquidity on the part of DepEd and the restoration of schools will be faster, (because it eliminates the need for) asking the government for additional funding.”
Administrative Order No. 33 issued by Former President Corazon C. Aquino in 1987, requires all departments to insure their physical assets with GSIS against calamities.
“All heads of department, commissions, boards, bureaus, offices of the national and local governments concerned except municipal governments below first class, government-owned and/or controlled corporations, subsidiaries and acquired asset corporations shall secure from the General Insurance Fund directly, all insurances or bonds covering properties, contracts, rights of action and other insurable risks of their respective offices, including all those in which their respective offices have an insurable risk and all those in which they have an insurable interest only,” according to the order.
According to a 2013 Commission on Audit (CoA) report, P6.85 billion worth of public school buildings and other Dep-Ed-owned properties were uninsured despite the AO requiring them so.
The National Indemnity Insurance Fund will also be used to finance risk insurance of roads and bridges built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). — Gillian M. Cortez
