by Kylone P. Soriano and Dr. Darwin Bandoy | Photos courtesy of the Re/Frame organizers
The UP Resilience Institute, through Dr. DJ Darwin Bandoy, Director of the Research and Creative Work Division, shared insights on the climate risks facing the Philippine food system during Re/Frame: The Next Move, held on October 16, 2026, at the Makati Shangri-La, Manila.
Re/Frame is the flagship regional forum of KRM Re, organized with the Singapore College of Insurance as its strategic knowledge partner. The forum brought together senior leaders from the insurance, reinsurance, finance, agriculture, and health sectors to rethink risk, growth, and resilience across Southeast Asia. Following its 2025 edition, which gathered more than 200 senior leaders from 11 countries, Re/Frame 2026 expanded into a full-day program with sessions on the protection gap, technology, MSME financing, health, and the resource economy.
During the afternoon program, Dr. Bandoy delivered the presentation “Plate Under Pressure: The Philippine Multi-Hazard Food System” under Session 5, “Re/Sourced: Food, Climate, and the New Resource Economy.” He then joined the panel discussion moderated by Mr. Ramon Zandueta, CEO and President of KRM Re, with co-panelists Mr. Winston Uy, Chairman and President of Universal Leaf Philippines, Inc.; Mr. Graeme Dean, Founder and CEO of Trigger Parametric; and Mr. Alexander Reyes, President of the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines.
In his presentation, Dr. Bandoy emphasized that the Philippine food system is in a state of calamity. He pointed out that food security in the agricultural sector is already stretched, with the country’s main staples of rice, vegetables, and meat at high risk of emergency. He framed these risks as a multi-hazard problem, where overlapping climate shocks compound one another due to geopolitical and socioeconomic factors.
Dr. Bandoy stressed the urgency of this situation given the onset of the Super El Niño. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported in September 2026 that a strong El Niño is active in the tropical Pacific and expected to intensify into a very strong event within the year, persisting into the first half of 2027.
The forum also featured sessions on insurance access and the protection gap, technology and digital innovation, MSMEs and capital markets, and longevity and health, along with a fireside chat with H.E. Yuliia Fediv, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Philippines, and a closing keynote by Mr. Arup Kumar Chatterjee of the Asian Development Bank on insurance and the future of financial security. Re/Frame 2026 underscored the importance of cross-sector collaboration in building a more resilient and food-secure future for the Philippines and the region.
Re/Frame 2026 was made possible through the support of Pioneer Insurance as Gold Sponsor, with ACE Insurance Brokers, AIA, Carret Private, Fullerton Health and RadLink, the Makati Business Club, MediCard, Michael Page, Milestone Guaranty and Assurance Corp., Protection Re Reinsurance Brokers, Stella, Universal Leaf Philippines, Inc., and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX).