President Arroyo has been asked to call on fellow Southeast Asian leaders to set up a $5-billion adaptation fund that can be tapped in times of disasters in the region and help the regional bloc address the threats of climate change.

Albay Governor Jose Salceda called on the President, who is expected to leave on Friday to attend the 15th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, to convince nine other leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to create the regional cooperation fund.

“We should put up a global cooperation fund for adaptation,” he said in a weekly press briefing called by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

The ASEAN earlier formed an emergency humanitarian relief fund after tropical storm “Ondoy” (international name "Ketsana") struck four ASEAN member-countries (the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) and earthquakes hit Indonesia.

Salceda expressed confidence that Mrs. Arroyo, a recognized leader in the Asian region, could encourage her counterparts to work for the realization of the adaptation fund.

The Albay governor said he already e-mailed the copy of proposal to the President with hopes that it will be given serious consideration.

He said once the adaptation fund is set up, all ASEAN countries should have “spontaneous” access to it to attend to their relief and rehabilitation efforts when they are hit by catastrophes.

“Instead of begging for alms, the region will have a standby fund when it is hit by disasters,” Salceda said.

He said that by setting up such fund, the regional bloc could show developed countries that it is unified in calling for concrete adaptation measures in the Copenhagen conference in December.

The Asia-Pacific region is prone to earthquakes, typhoons and tsunamis, among other natural disasters.

Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change Heherson Alvarez said they would call on the developed countries, the largest emitters of carbon emissions, to provide funding to developing countries for their climate change initiatives.

During his visit last September 8, Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has asked for the Philippine government’s support to come up with a “forward looking” climate change pact in Copenhagen.

De Boer was assured by President Arroyo of the government’s support to the ongoing UN negotiations for a new global treaty on climate change which is expected to be signed by more than 180 countries in Denmark.

The UN official noted the important role played by developing countries in pressing developed countries to cut their emissions as he admitted that it is difficult to mobilize funding for climate change initiatives due to the global crisis.

The Philippines earlier asked industrialized countries to cut their carbon emissions by more than 30 to 40 percent from 2013 to 2017 and by more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2022, using the 1990 levels as basis.

Meanwhile, Malacañang said it is backing another Salceda proposal for the creation of a Metro Manila council that will be led by an elected governor to supervise disaster preparedness, mitigation and response in the burgeoning metropolis.

After tropical storm Ondoy left many parts of Metro Manila in tatters, Ermita said the commission proposed by the Albay Governor could effectively administer disaster risk management as well as climate change adaptation in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Ermita, in a news conference in the Palace, said the new political authority may be patterned after the Metro Manila Commission previously led by former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

“If that is the solution especially because of what we are experiencing, then I can’t see why we should not take a serious look at that particular matter of having an elected Metro Manila committee here in National Capital Region,” he said.

Salceda said the new Metro Manila Disaster Coordinating Council, which should be created through legislation, should have “full powers of a province” to effectively implement measures to combat climate change in the NCR.

He said residents of Metro Manila would then vote for a governor who will have supervising powers on disaster-related programs.

At present, Salceda observed that there is a problem of coordination among local executives in Metro Manila during disasters.

“It cannot be done by purely coordination. It must be done as a political authority. Given the effects of climate change, we should have an elected governor of Metro Manila and therefore, he will run the Metro Manila Disaster Coordinating Council,” he said.

Salceda said the capital, which was recently submerged in deep floods aggravated by poor urban planning and garbage problem, can’t afford another “debating club” where local leaders often bicker over territorial jurisdictions on calamity concerns.

“Climate change is already a fact of life. It is so real and affects lives and livelihoods and properties right at the financial and political center of the country,” he added.

Asked if the new commission should replace MMDA, Salceda said the agency should be transformed into a “political unit with full powers of a province.”