President Gloria Arroyo on Friday signed a law creating a national climate body that she said will help the storm-devastated Philippines better prepare for natural disasters in the future.

The "Climate Change Commission", which she herself will head, will draft an "action plan" to mitigate and prepare for the effects of climate change.

"Under this climate change commission, we will make 'global warming' and 'climate change' household words because after (tropical storms Ketsana and Parma), the people can see we are all affected," said Congressman Juan Miguel Zubiri, one of the lawmakers behind the move.

Earlier this month, Arroyo said the Philippines deserved preferential loans and other financial help to recover from Parma and Ketsana because it had become a victim of climate change.

"We are not a culprit of climate change. We are a victim," the president said. The two storms killed about a thousand people in the past month and caused over 30 billion pesos (640 million dollars) in damage.