The Philippines has secured a $500 million credit line from the World Bank to support efforts to manage risks posed by natural disasters.

Passengers travelling on a converted tractor cross a flooded road after heavy rain at Candaba town, Pampanga province, north of Manila December 17, 2015.

The Southeast Asian country can get access to the credit line if its president declares a state of calamity, the bank said in a statement.

It is the second such financing option the bank has provided the Philippines, which is the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to use such a credit line.

"If not managed well, disasters can roll back years of development gains and plunge millions of people into poverty," World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi said.

The Philippines is frequently hit by natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, with on average more than 1,000 people killed every year, most of them by the 20 or more typhoons that hit annually.

In 2013, typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people and left 1.4 million homeless in the central Philippines.

Source: Reuters