Manila - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday signed a law that aims to boost the country's response to climate change, which had been blamed for back-to-back storms that killed nearly 1,000 people in the country. Senator Loren Legarda, a principal author of the Climate Change Act, said the law was a "landmark initiative" that could help raise funds needed for rehabilitating areas devastated by storm Ketsana and typhoon Parma.
"It will attract foreign financing for reconstruction and help local governments," she said at the signing. "The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable in the world but it's not a major greenhouse gas emitter. So we must seek climate justice."
The Climate Change Act allocates 50 million pesos (1 million dollars) for the creation of an autonomous policy-making body that would formulate within one year a national action plan to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of global warming.
Under the law, the Climate Change Commission is authorized to receive donations and grants from local and foreign sources to finance the implementation of various mitigation and adaptation programmes.
The law also stipulates that government agencies and local government units should allocate funds for the formulation and implementation of climate change programmes and plans.
Arroyo has blamed climate change for "once-in-a-lifetime" rains brought by storm Ketsana on September 26, causing the worst floods in over 40 years in Manila and outlying areas. The deluge killed 464 people.
One week later, typhoon Parma slammed into the northern Philippines, triggering massive landslides and flooding that killed 465 people.
Almost 9 million people were affected by Ketsana and Parma, which caused damage to agriculture and infrastructure worth more than 30 billion pesos, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
