Seasoned insurance man Benedict Sison reelected as industry association president

Benedict Sison, Sun Life Philippines CEO and country head, gets reelected to a second term as president of the Philippine Life Assurance, Inc. (PLIA). His reelection coincided with PLIA’s recent annual meeting held virtually.

Sison expressed gratitude for the opportunity to once again serve the association as well as colleagues in the industry.

“I am honored to be given a fresh mandate to continue leading the association. 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,” he said.

Sun Life Philippines CEO and country head, and newly reelected PLIA president Benedict Sison

During his first term, 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.  

As he assumes his second term, Sison looks forward to working with the other elected members of the 2021 PLIA board of directors in further strengthening the life insurance industry.

These include AXA Philippines President and CEO Rahul Hora, vice president; Country Bankers Insurance Group Senior Vice President and General Manager Geraldine Desiderio-Garcia, 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, who make up the board of 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 current insurance e-commerce regulations to support financial inclusion and connecting with the Bangko Sentral in enabling insurance companies to offer affordable retirement programs for micro, small and medium enterprises through issuance of a limited trust license,” Sison said. “The board will work closely together in promoting the interests of the industry alongside with those of the insuring public.”