MMDA wants billboard-free EDSA, Roxas Boulevard

MANILA, Philippines - If the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will have its way, the entire stretch of EDSA and Roxas Boulevard will be cleared of advertising billboards.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino met with outdoor advertisers at the agency’s Makati City office Friday to discuss the possibility of limiting the number of billboards along EDSA and other major thoroughfares of the metropolis.

“MMDA has supervision over billboards on major thoroughfares. I told them that we do not want to ruin their industry as they have also generated livelihood for many. However, our main concern is public safety and that no accidents involving these billboards will happen. I think they (advertising groups) have agreed in this aspect,” Tolentino said in a radio interview yesterday.

The MMDA has stressed the need to clear EDSA of large billboards that could collapse during a powerful earthquake.

“Our objective in meeting with the advertisers is to come up with a win-win solution to address the problem without unnecessarily affecting their business operations. Our main concern here is the safety of the public, especially during calamities such as earthquakes,” Tolentino said.

Tolentino said the advertising groups and billboard operators assured the MMDA that they will seriously study the agency’s guidelines and regulations pertaining to the installation of billboards.

According to Tolentino, the MMDA is proposing that EDSA and Roxas Boulevard be free of billboards. However, he added the agency is also amenable to having billboards fit a standard size of 20 by 40 meters.

Tolentino said that following a series of inter-agency meetings with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and congressional hearings on billboard regulations, the MMDA has deemed it necessary to dismantle poorly constructed billboards that are earthquake hazards.

He also said a 2007 study of the Brunel University in West London showed roadside advertising presents a real danger to driving safety, with conservative estimates putting external distractions responsible for up to 10 percent of all road accidents.