Nakakakaba yong sinabi ni Jose Miguel M. Vazquez, Federation of Pre-need Companies of the Philippines president, noong February 20 tungkol sa business na pre-need.

Nag-research uli ako ng news ngayong umaga about pre-need sa Internet noong nakita ko sa ABS-CBN  news kagabi yong pagsasalita ni Vazquez habang ini-interview siya.

Ini-extend kasi ng SEC mula February 15 hanggang April 15 yong deadline ng mga pre-need companies para dagdagan ang capital nila.

Ang sabi ni Vazquez ay kailangan pa nila ng mas mahabang time para isipin kung magpapatuloy pa sila na mag-business. Iisipin daw nila kung profitable pa raw  ba ang business na pre-need. Ano ba yon?

Vazquez’s exact words:
“Is it enough time? Probably not, since each company is assessing whether to continue, should continue and can continue. It is not just a question of capital. Each company is reviewing whether there is still a future [in this business] and this cannot be determined in such a short time.”

According sa news na ito of Business World online, the group said some pre-need companies were considering stopping operations and were just trying to pay plan holders due to their huge trust fund deficits.

In the same TV news, nagsalita rin si Philip Piccio, the head of the PEP Coalition. Ina-accuse niya yong mga pre-need companies na sinasadya raw nilang ipakita na nalulugi na sila kahit hindi para hindi nila ibigay yong full values ng pre-need plans.

Source:

BusinessWorld   February 21, 2009

And this after the collapse of 3 Legacy pre-need firms, and long before them, the collapse of CAP and Pacific Plans. Although Pacific seems to be okay now, since Noel Oñate’s Abundance Providers Investments Corp., the new owner of Pacific, promised to buy back Pacific plans at 15% yearly interest. Piccio and his group, however, plan to pursue their case against the original owner of Pacific.

These are some info that I gathered as of today, February 14:

1. On SEC website, Danvil Plans is one of the 24 pre-need corporations with 2009 dealer’s license. Compared to the list of September 2008, the pre-need firms removed were:
Ideal Pension
Legacy
Pacific Plans

There is one new firm on the list: AMA Plans.
On another page there are three other firms with 2009 dealer’s license:
IMG Insurance Brokers
Prudentialife Market Resources, both linked to Prudentialife and
Jardine Lloyd Thomson Insurance Brokers, linked to Philam Plans

2. Philip Piccio, president of the Parents-Enabling Parents Coalition (PEP) who is campaigning for
Pacific Plans open-ended educational planholders, was generous enough to reply to my text about Danvil. He texted back that Danvil Plans is not one of the 4 pre-need firms about to collapse.

3. Jack of Danvil Plans in Makati said that Danvil is very stable. Jack was the one who answered me on the phone when I called the Danvil office in Makati on February 13. I asked him if he knows about the 4 pre-need firms being mentioned about to collapse, and he said that he doesn’t know. He said that what he knows is that Danvil is stable and that it has been paying claims as of date. I asked him why Danvil is not updating its web site, and he said that he will relay my concern to management.

4. According to a list provided by Salve Duplito on her article on Inquirer.net Money Smarts, Danvil Plans is one of the 19 pre-need firms who have signed a document expressing their willingness to increase their capital in 2009 to cope with anticipated difficulties due to low investment rates in the financial markets.  The bigger pre-need firms are on the list.

5. My conclusion is that the 4 pre-need firms being reported about to collapse includes Ideal Pension because I read one planholder complaining that Ideal Plan has not given him the proceeds of his plan which has matured in 2008. The other one would be Pryce Plans, which most everybody knows by now has already collapsed way back in 2007. But in fairness to Pryce, it’s doing its  best to give something to its planholders. My friend who is a Pryce planholder is getting some benefits through Pryce’s other companies, such as hotel stays, etc. She has also received some amounts of money for tuition.

As for the other two pre-need firms, I’m still checking. I’ll update this article again today after I get home from church. Happy Valentine’s Day to all Danvil planholders.

Pre-Need Corporations With 2009 Dealer’s License as of January 28, 2009

1  AMA Plans Inc.   (pension)
2  Ayala Plans Inc.  (education, pension)
3  Caritas Financial Plans Inc.  (pension)
4  CityPlans Inc.  (pension)
5  Cocoplans Inc.  (education, life, pension)
6  Danvil Plans Inc.  (formerly Berkley International Plans, educational, pension)
7  Destiny Financial Plans Inc.  (pension)
8  Eternal Plans Inc.  (education, life, pension)
9  First Country Plans Inc.  (pension)
10  First Union Plans Inc. (pension)
11  Grayline Plans Inc. (pension)
12  Himlayang Pilipino Plans Inc. (education, life, pension)
13 Loyola Plans Consolidated (education, life, pension)
14  Manulife Financial Plans  (educ pension)
15  Mercantile Careplans  (educ life pension)
16  Paz Memorial Services (life)
17  Permanent Plans  (life, pension)
18  Philam Plans  (educational, life, pension)
19  Provident International Plans  (life, pension)
20  Prudentialife Plans  (educational, life, pension)
21  St. Peter Life Plan  (life)
22  Sun Life Financial Plans   (educational, pension)
23  Transnational Plans   (educational, pension)
24  Trusteeship Plans  (educational, life, pension)

Additional List of Pre-Need Firms With 2009 Dealer’s License as of January 28, 2009
IMG Insurance Brokers Corp.
Prudentialife Plans Inc.
Jardine Lloyd Thomson Insurance Brokers Inc.
Philam Plans Inc.
Prudentialife Market Resources Corp.
Prudentialife Plans Inc.

Removed from the Licensed Dealer List of January 2009

Ideal Pension Plans
Legacy Consolidated Plans
Pacific Plans

Listed in the February 2007 list, but no longer licensed since 2008
Classic Plans
Eduplan Phils
Millennium Plans
Primanila Plans
PrimePlan
sources:

SEC List of Pre-Need Firms With 2009 Dealer’s License

Article by Salve Duplito on Inquirer Money Smarts