(Clockwise
from top left) Jimmy Loro, GIZ RFPI Asia senior advisor; Rahul Hora, AXA Philippines president
and CEO; Jonathan Batangan, PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies vice president and
group head; and Dr. Volker Steigerwald, GIZ programme director during the
MicroDRI Project Microbiz Protek, Jr. product launch.
The Philippines ranks
ninth in the world among countries with
extreme weather events in the 2020 World Risk Index, according to the
Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department by the House of Philippine
Congress. When natural disasters and calamities strike, micro, small, and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) are one of the most vulnerable segments.
Since MSMEs make up the majority of businesses in the Philippines today,
Cebuana Lhuillier, one of the country’s leading microfinancial services
company, has teamed up with AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading
insurance providers, and the German Development Cooperation / Deutsche
Gesellschaft fürInternationaleZussamenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (GIZ), to unveil its
newest microinsurance product, the MicroBiz Protek Jr., which will help insure
microenterprises against typhoons, floods, earthquake, lightning, and fire for
an annual premium as low as P172.
"AXA Philippines is dedicated to sustainability, and
we have launched this product in response to the climate and disaster risk that
Filipino MSMEs
are constantly exposed
to.We hope that through this product,
Filipino entreprenurs can now enjoy the protection that they need to sustain
their businesses during natural calamities and disasters,"
said Rahul Hora, AXA Philippines President and CEO.
“With the Philippines being one of the top five in the world most at risk for
natural disasters, I think it’s only right to offer such a product to our
MSMEs. Hopefully, this is something that we can be able to scale and promote
for the protection of the MSME sector,” said PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies
Vice President and Group Head Jonathan Batangan.
The new product,which was introduced
during a recent virtual launch, offers lump sum cash assistance in case of
property damage caused by natural calamities and disasters. Moreover, it offers
10 percent personal accident insurance for two employees, 10 percent cover for robbery and
burglary, and free emergency assistance through the Emma by AXA PH app.
Likewise, GIZ also shows its support to the MSMEs through this product: “Our
private-public partnerships with companies like AXA Philippines is filling
parts of the vacuum of climate and risk insurance products in the Philippines,
and we are very happy with the development of the MicroBiz Protek Jr.” shared
Dr. Volker Steigerwald, GIZ Programme Director.
Also present during the virtual unveiling of MicroBiz Protek Jr. were
Department of Trade Industry Undersecretary BlesilaLantayona and AXA
Philippines Chief of Retail Propositions Alok Rungta.