Government readies billboard rules

Amid the furor over the deaths and destruction caused by crashing billboards at the height of typhoon "Milenyo," Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday that rules are now being readied to regulate the construction of what many consider as some of the most deadly structures in Metro Manila.

At the Senate, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago strongly urged action to alleviate the misery of those living in "billboard hell."

"Innocent human beings were torn from their lives and taken, never to return, from the bosom of their loving, bereaved families, simply because nobody dared to face the reality that we Filipinos are living in billboard hell," Santiago said in a sponsorship speech.

Gonzalez, at a press conference, said the government may regulate the construction of billboards by invoking the state’s police power and as part of the "General Welfare Clause" in the Constitution.

He also said the families of those killed or injured by falling billboards should file criminal charges against the owners of the billboards or sue them for damages.

Gonzalez said the National Disaster Coordinating Council is spearheading the drafting of the rules.

"The members of the NDCC are now meeting. They asked for my opinion and I already sent it to them," he said. "They will formulate the Executive Order to regulate the erection of billboards in the country. The EO regulating billboards will come out soon."

Gonzalez stressed that billboard advertising is part of the "freedom of expression" and thus cannot be totally be stopped.

"My position is billboards cannot be stopped totally because that is part of freedom of expression. But it can be regulated. It has to be regulated under the police powers of the state," he said.

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza expressed a similar view. "I’m against total ban. As a communications and advertising man, I’m also siding with the industry in that manner so a total ban is out of the question," he said.

"Removing them on the streets and main highways is not the solution that would be detrimental to the spirit of free enterprise and a thriving economy," Atienza said.

Gonzalez said under the Building Code of the Philippines, the City Engineer and not the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has the authority to declare whether a billboard is a nuisance.

"Under the MMDA authority, it acts in accordance with the approval of the mayors that make up the MMDA council. Anything that is in excess is nuisance," Gonzalez said.

"The owners of the structures and the building owners who allowed it can be held liable for damages. If someone was killed, they can also file reckless imprudence resulting in homicide," Gonzalez said.

He said "self-regulation," as proposed by some groups, would not be effective because makers of billboards are motivated by business.

"I don’t believe in self-regulation for them because that is business," Gonzalez said. "There should be a distance from the billboard to the highway to ensure the safety of the people. Like, you can’t have bars near schools. That is a regulation."

But even as the rules regulating billboards have yet to be threshed out, disaster officials announced yesterday that they are soon getting rid of all hazardous billboards in the name of public safety.

NDCC chairman and Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. tasked the MMDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to carry out the clearing operations.

"The DPWH and the MMDA will be inspecting and evaluating these billboards to find out if they pose imminent hazard and safety to the public," Cruz said.

‘Partly to blame’

At the Senate, Santiago said some judges who issued temporary restraining orders on the dismantling of some billboards were partly to blame for the accidents.

"And I charge the defenders of billboards sporting phony arguments that billboards are so-called part of freedom of speech and... that billboard owners are so-called corporate taxpayers and providers of employment, with ignorance of the law and refusal to face the facts of the ‘uglification’ and aesthetic desertification of our homeland," Santiago said in her prepared privilege speech.

"Billboards are a form of commercial speech, which can be prohibited under the police power of the state," said Santiago, author of the Anti-Billboard Blight Act of 2006.

The STAR learned that there was no pending TRO on billboard dismantling.

The legal battle between the MMDA and advertising firms who put up billboards along major thoroughfares like EDSA can be traced to a case filed by Trackworks Rail Transit Advertising, Vending and Promotions Inc. before the Pasig City regional trial court four years ago.

The firm was able to secure a TRO from Judge Luis Tongco who cited the existence of a contract between Trackworks and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) management.

The case reached the Court of Appeals (CA) and in 2004, the appellate court, ruled in favor of the advertising firm.

MMDA, however, sought a cease and desist order from Pasig RTC. The case is now with the Supreme Court. said MMDA legal division chief Emmanuel de Castro.

"The (Pasig City court) decision is being abused. What they do is connect more structures to the MRT so they can put up new advertisements," De Catro told The STAR.

He noted that the billboards along EDSA that collapsed last Thursday were not covered by the court rulings because they were not attached to the MRT. He said it was the local governments that stopped MMDA from dismantling these billboards.

Meanwhile, the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) appealed yesterday that it be included in the ongoing review of regulations on billboards as well as in the implementation of pertinent laws.

"We are hoping that we will be included in the review of regulations as well as in the implementation of new rules," OAAP president Frank Abueva said in a weekly forum yesterday. — With reports from Michael Punongbayan, Evelyn Macairan, Jaime Laude