City Council tackles measures on billboard owners, advertisers

While the City Council has been deliberating over proposed measures to deal with billboard owners or outdoor advertisers, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that, if given his way, he would simply blacklist companies that put up billboards without permits.

 “We’ll just blacklist them so that others can realize that they can lose their business,” Osmeña said.

The council the other day had tackled the drafting of an ordinance that would lay down liabilities of billboard owners and outdoor advertisers at times when a billboard falls because of its weak foundation or that the tarpaulin was not rolled down at the onset of bad weather.

Osmeña clarified that the city will give a chance for the owners of the billboards that fell during the onslaught of tropical storm Lando to explain why the billboards fell.

Of the six billboards that fell Tuesday last week, only three were put up by members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines- Cebu.

This prompted the council to order the Office of the Building Official to investigate and recheck, within two weeks, the status of 11 billboards in Cebu City that were put up allegedly without permits. 

The mayor however clarified that even if he believed the proposed ordinance may not be necessary anymore, it does not mean that he will veto it outright. “We are not in the position to analyze the weather but they might have something that I do not know,” he said.

Osmeña said he is also open to the suggestion of councilor Gerardo Carillo to let companies post a bond when they decide to put up a billboard. “I’m willing to consider…it depends on the bond…so there will be no third party liability,” he said. 

OAAP- Cebu president Mary Anne Solomon said that, even before the typhoon last week, they have already adjusted and reinforced the structures that hold their billboards. He group had also set aside a trust fund to help defray costs of any damage to property or persons caused by a fallen billboard.

Solomon said they are willing to sit down with the city council to discuss the terms of the proposed ordinance “within reason.” – Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE