‘Billboard bill may spell death for outdoor advertising’

 The Senate’s approval of a bill regulating billboards may sound the death knell for the P10-billion-a-year outdoor advertising industry, which employs 40,000 workers.

Carlo Llave, chairman of the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP), raised the scenario at a public hearing on the proposed revision of the National Building Code organized by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Llave said industry players were alarmed by the developments in the Senate but vowed to fight on.

"We are left with no choice but to follow the law. But we will pursue our search for legal remedies in Congress and even in courts, if necessary, until our legitimate grievances are heard," Llave said.

The OAAP official said they felt "ignored" by the Senate in its "uncharacteristic haste in approving the bill, which totally disregarded the recommendations of the industry players who will be directly affected by it." He said the Senate appeared to have overlooked the serious impact of the approved measure on thousands of ordinary Filipinos.

"We worry about the fate of some 40,000 direct-hire industry workers and their families who will bear the brunt of the death of the industry," an OAAP statement said.

"We appeal to the government to observe temperance and due process in crafting and implementing laws. We appeal to the concerned government agencies to play fair and work within the bounds of law while in the process of regulating the industry," OAAP pointed out.

The Senate approved unanimously last Wednesday the Anti-Billboard Blight Act authored by Sen. Miriam Santiago. The bill bans billboards in many areas including roads, intersections, rooftops, power poles, historic spots or in places where they might pose danger to the public.

The bill also prohibits billboards in places that may obstruct the view of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or which may be confused with any traffic control device or sign. It also bans billboards and structures that are over 300 square feet in size. Law enforcers who fail to implement the proposed law face penalties ranging from P20,000 to P100,000 in addition to the possible filing of criminal cases against them.

The proposed law, certified as urgent by President Arroyo, has the DPWH as its main enforcer.

OAAP said the provisions of the measure make it virtually impossible for the industry to survive. "It seems like what they want us to do is to put up billboards in places where people would not see them or in the mountains," Llave said.

DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said at the hearing that the law would really hurt the industry but stressed public safety was more important.

"We have to sacrifice. Sana magtiis tayo kasi yung nalulugi sa atin ngayon eh kinita naman natin dati ‘yan nung wala pang batas na ganito (Let’s bear with this because we’re losing only what we had earned prior to the law’s passage)," Ebdane said during the hearing. He said DPWH would continue dismantling hazardous or illegally-erected billboards.

DPWH has torn down more than 5,000 of the 11,767 billboards inspected nationwide as of Nov. 6 this year.