Supervision.
SEC. 5. Supervision. — All pre-need companies, as defined under this Act, shall be under the primary and exclusive supervision and regulation of the Insurance Commission. The Commission is hereby authorized to provide for its reorganization, to streamline its structure and operations, upgrade its human resource component to enable it to effectively and efficiently perform its functions and exercise its powers under this Code.
All positions of the Commission shall be governed by compensation and position classification systems and qualification standards approved by the Commission based on a comprehensive job analysis and audit of actual duties and responsibilities. The compensation plan shall be comparable with the prevailing compensation plan in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and other government financial institutions and shall be subject to periodic review by the Commission no more than once every two (2) years without prejudice to yearly merit reviews or increases based on productivity and efficiency. The Commission shall, therefore, be exempt from laws, rules and regulations on compensation, position classification and qualification standards. The Commission shall, however, endeavor to make its system conform as closely as possible with the principles under the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989 (Republic Act No. 6758, as amended).
The salary and allowances or personal services expense of the employees of the Insurance Commission shall be sourced from the retained amount of the fees, charges and other income derived from the regulation of pre-need companies and from the Insurance Fund under Section 418 of the Insurance Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 612, as amended) and Section 286 of the National Internal Revenue Code. If the personal services expense cannot be covered by the retained amount and the Insurance Fund, it shall be appropriated in the General Appropriations Fund.
Powers and Functions of the Commission.
SEC. 6. Powers and Functions of the Commission. — The Commission shall, at all times, act with transparency and dispatch and shall have, among others, the following powers and functions;
Approve, amend, renew or deny any license, registration or certificate issued under this Code;
Fix and assess fees and/or charges as it may find reasonable in the exercise of regulation;
Regulate, supervise and monitor the operations and management of pre-need companies to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Code, existing laws, rules and regulations including, but not limited to:
Revoking or nullifying investments made and/or entered into by a pre-need company or a trustee which are contrary to existing laws, rules and regulations;
Demanding for the conversion of the investments made by the trustee to cash or other liquid assets to protect the interest of the planholders; and
Regulating, investigating or supervising activities of pre-need companies, their officers, employees, sales counselors, consultants or agents;
Issue cease and desist orders to prevent fraud and injury to the investing public;
Issue subpoena duces tecum and ad testificandum, order the examination, search and seizure of documents, papers, files, tax returns, books of accounts and other records, in whatever form, of any entity or person under investigation;
Punish for contempt of the Commission, both direct and indirect, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of and penalties prescribed by the Rules of Court;
Impose sanctions, institute cases and/or prosecute offenders for violation of this Code, related laws, rules, regulations and orders issued pursuant thereto;
Suspend or revoke licenses
Enlist the aid and support of and/or deputize any and all enforcement agencies of the government in the implementation of its powers and in the exercise of its functions under this Code;
Take over pre-need companies which fail to comply with this Code, related laws, rules, regulations and orders issued pursuant thereto, either through the appointment of a conservator, receiver or liquidator;
Prepare, approve, amend or repeal rules, regulations and orders, and issue opinions and provide guidance on and supervise compliance with such rules, regulations and orders;
Formulate policies and recommendations on issues concerning the pre-need industry, including proposed legislations;
Retain and utilize, in addition to its annual budget, an amount up to One hundred million pesos (P100,000,000.00) of the fees, charges and other income derived from the regulation of the pre-need companies; and
Exercise such other powers as may be provided by law as well as those which may be implied from, or which are necessary or incidental to carry out the express powers granted the Commission to achieve the objectives and purposes of the law.
