The PNP’s Bell 429 twin-engine helicopter that crashed in Laguna. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has fast-tracked claims for the insurance coverage of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) helicopter that crashed in Laguna last week.
In a statement last Monday, the state-run pension fund said the Bell 429 twin-engine chopper, which had carried PNP Chief Archie Gamboa and seven other police officials, was covered with a GSIS-issued insurance policy amounting to $7 million.
“Our insurance group is fast-tracking the insurance claim of the PNP in response to the directive of the President to cut bureaucratic red tape by streamlining procedures and requirements in the delivery of public services,” GSIS president and general manager Rolando L. Macasaet said.
“Just hours after the incident, the GSIS insurance group immediately dispatched its third-party insurance adjuster, Crawford & Company Broadspire (Philippines) Inc., to investigate the crash site and estimate the total financial damage resulting from the crash. We are just waiting for the investigation findings of our third-party adjuster. Once we get their final report, we will release the money to the PNP immediately,” Macasaet added.
On top of the GSIS’s insurance for the helicopter, the PNP’s policy also included personal accident insurance ($100,000); passenger medical expenses ($20,000); and third-party liability (TPL) insurance, Macasaet said.
“May this unfortunate incident serve both as a lesson and a reminder to all government officials to insure their property assets with the GSIS, because you never know when disaster will strike,” according to Macasaet.
Under Republic Act (RA) No. 656 or the Property Insurance Law, all government agencies were required to insure with the GSIS their properties, assets and other insurable risks, including aircraft.
Last year, the total assets of the GSIS’s general insurance fund reached P44.5 billion, allowing the pension fund to generate an almost P2.2-billion profit through its insurance group.