MANILA - President Arroyo on Wednesday said she will push for the creation of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations adaptation fund that would be tapped by ASEAN member-states during times of calamity.

Albay Governor and Arroyo's economic adviser Joey Salceda first broached the creation of a $5 billion adaptation fund, which he likened to the ASEAN+3 Chiang Mai Initiative. 

The Chiang Mai Initiative is a network of bilateral swap arrangements among ASEAN+3 counties that would allow members to manage regional short-term liquidity problems and facilitate the work of other international financial arrangements and organizations such as the International Monetary Fund.

Under Salceda's proposal, ASEAN member-states ravaged by calamities caused by climate change would tap the adaptation fund for its rehabilitation initiatives.

Salceda said twin typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma), among other calamities, could affect as much as 0.61 percent of the gross domestic product, which is higher than the 0.15 percent estimated effect of climate change on the GDP.

Salceda recently called for a National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation on October 26-27 and invited stakeholders to discuss best practices in fighting climate change. -- report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News