President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday (October 23) signed into law the Climate Change Act of 2009 or Republic Act 9729 that is expected to better equip the government in responding to disasters brought about by climate change.

The law, which Senator Loren Legarda authored, aims to integrate climate change concerns and actions into government policy formulation, development planning and poverty reduction programs.

It is the first legislation in Southeast Asia to fully integrate principles of the Hyogo Framework, a 10-year blueprint for reducing risks from disasters.

Under the R.A. 9729, a Commission on Climate Change headed by the President will be created

According to Legarda, who chairs the Senate Oversight Committee on Climate Change, the Commission on Climate Change would be the only policy making body on climate change in the country and is responsible for coordinating, monitoring and evaluating the programs and action plans of government

The Commission on Climate Change will be tasked to provide technical and financial support to local research and development programs and projects.

The legislation is one of several measures that the Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is preparing to reduce the human and economic costs of disasters associated with natural calamities like storms, earthquakes, floods and landslides.

A recently released Mortality Risk Index (MRI) by the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) ranks the Philippines as 12th among 200 countries most at risk from tropical cyclones and flood.

Additional Information from http://www.op.gov.ph