COA denies P1.5 billion money claim by insurance firms vs Pag-IBIG

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May 21, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) denied  for lack of merit the petition for money claim filed by a group of private insurance companies (collectively called Insurance Pool) asking the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund) to pay alleged unremitted insurance premiums amounting to P1.503 billion.

In a 17-page en banc ruling, the COA said the petition was defective for failing to attach a certification against forum shopping, the absence of a clear authority from the members of the group, and failing to submit authenticated copes of the documents about a final and executory judgment, which rendered the veracity of their claim “questionable and cannot be ascertained.”

Based on records, Pag-IBIG  entered into a group insurers combined fire insurance policy with the Insurance Pool, placing all properties mortgaged to the fund under mandatory insurance coverage against fire and other perils.

In October 2013, then Pag-IBIG chief executive officer Darlene Marie Berberabe sent a notice to the Insurance Pool that the fund will no longer renew the fire insurance coverage once the contract ends on Dec. 31, 2013.

The insurers’ group contested the move and sought an arbitration.

In a ruling in May 2016, the Arbitration Committee rendered an award declaring, among others, that Pag-IBIG “validly exercised its right on behalf of its borrowers to no longer renew any existing individual one-year insurance policies under the 1985 Group Policy.”

Likewise, it held that the fund “validly exercised its right to no longer enroll new borrowers under the 1985 Group Policy.”

In April 2019, the insurance Pool wrote to then Pag-IBIG CEO Acmad Rizaldy Moti requesting the remittance of supposed unpaid premiums totaling P1,502,715,628.97 “as an amicable settlement between the parties.”

This covered the gap in insurance coverage from May 2016 to December 2017, where the group claimed Pag-IBIG continuously collected fire insurance premiums from the housing loan monthly amortization of the member-borrowers.

In its decision, the COA pointed out that the arbitration ruling was strictly limited in scope to policies of insurance that were issued or renewed and made no mention of any obligation on the part of Pag-IBIG.

“In fact, the Arbitration Committee does not grant any award of interest to either party, considering that it has not made any monetary award in favor of either party. As correctly pointed out by HDMF, there is no specific monetary award to be enforced based on the clear terms of the arbitral decision. Thus, there was no final order or judgment awarding the petitioners the amount prayed for in this petition,” the ruling read.

The Insurance Pool was composed of AFP General Insurance Corp., Allied Bankers Insurance Corp., Alpha Insurance & Surety Co. Inc., Asia United Insurance Inc., BF General Insurance Co. Inc., Centennial Guarantee Assurance Corp., Charter Ping An Insurance Corp. Commonwealth Insurance Co., Country Bankers Insurance Corp., Empire Insurance Co.,First Integrated Bonding & Insurance Co. Inc., FLT Prime Insurance Corp., Fortune General Insurance Corp., Great Domestic Insurance Company of the Philippines Inc., Intra-Strata Assurance Corp.; Investors Assurance Corp., Liberty Insurance Corp., Manila Surety & Fidelity Co., Inc., Milestone Guaranty & Assurance Corp., Meridian Assurance Corp., Metropolitan Insurance Co. Inc., Monarch Insurance Co., Inc., Northwest Insurance & Surety Co. Inc., Oriental Assurance Corp., Pacific Union Insurance Co., Perla Compania De Seguros Inc., People’s General Insurance Corp., Philippine British Assurance Co. Inc., Philippine Fire & Marine Insurance Corp., Plaridel Surety & Insurance Co., Pioneer Asia Insurance Corp., Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corp., Pioneer Intercontinental Insurance Corp., Prudential Guarantee & Assurance Inc., R&B Insurance; Corp., Reliance Surety & Insurance Co. Inc., Republic Surety & Insurance Co. Inc., Stronghold Insurance Co. Inc., The Premier Insurance & Surety Corp., The Solid Guaranty Inc., Travelers Insurance & Surety Corp., UCPB General Insurance Co. Inc., and Western Guaranty Corp.