Manulife not planning revenge, vows to focus on customers

Manulife not planning revenge, vows to focus on customers

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Canadian insurance giant Manulife Financial Corp. pledged to
concentrate on serving its policyholders instead of seeking
revenge after a costly bankruptcy dispute with its former local
partner here.

Executive vice president of Manulife for Asia, Victor Apps,
said on Wednesday that its local unit, PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife
Indonesia (AJMI), would look forward to focusing its effort
totally on enhancing services to policyholders.

"We're not looking for revenge, all sides are losers. Our hope
is that all these actions will soon come to a close and hopefully
you can start reporting on us as an insurance company and not as
a litigator," Apps told reporters in his first press conference
since the Supreme Court annulled last Friday a bankruptcy ruling
on AJMI.

AJMI was declared bankrupt on June 13 by the Commercial Court
after a receiver of Manulife's local partner, the now defunct PT
Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera (DSS) filed a bankruptcy petition over
what it claimed was an unpaid dividend in 1999.

But Manulife has said that shareholders did not authorize any
dividend for that particular period. The controversial
bankruptcy ruling has unnerved investors and nearly triggered a
diplomatic feud between Canada and Indonesia.

AJMI was forced to shut down its 73 branches for a few days
following the bankruptcy ruling, creating uncertainty with its
400,000 policyholders and nearly 4,000 employees. Some hospitals
had even rejected patients' Manulife health insurance policies.

Meanwhile, the DSS receiver, Paul Sukran, reportedly was
planning to file another suit and may request a judicial review
against the Supreme Court's ruling.

Apps that there were early indications that DSS would withdraw
its claims against the company but there was still the threat of
further action.

"I can't say with certainty that our adversaries here have
completely given up...but I believe the Supreme Court ruling is a
watershed in the process and all sides should realize there's
nothing left to be gained from continuing this process," said
Apps, while adding that Manulife had spent millions of dollars
since its legal dispute with the former local partner started in
2000.

Manulife's legal dispute with DSS, owned by the Gondokusumo
family, began when it acquired DSS's 40 percent stake in AJMI at
a government auction after DSS was declared bankrupt.