Court rules OAAP can't sue MMDA in billboard row

MANILA, Philippines - The Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) has no legal standing to sue the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to stop the agency from implementing strict guidelines on the installation of billboards along EDSA and other major roads, a Makati regional trial court ruled.

In an order dated Jan. 3, Judge Rommel Baybay dismissed the OAAP’s petition for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction, saying the group cannot sue the MMDA on behalf of its member-advertising companies.

The MMDA had earlier argued that the OAAP, being an umbrella organization of business groups engaged in outdoor advertising, is not the real party in interest in the case.

In his order, Baybay said even witnesses presented by OAAP during the hearings admitted that the association does not own any outdoor advertising billboard in Metro Manila or elsewhere in the country.

“Not being an outdoor advertising service provider, petitioner possesses no right that stands to be directly affected by the assailed issuances,” Baybay said.

The OAAP argued that the MMDA acted with grave abuse of discretion when it entered into an agreement with the Department of Public Works and Highways to come up with the new guidelines.

The OAAP claims to have about 90 outdoor advertising firms as its members in Metro Manila with 30 more in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

The OAAP had earlier argued that the MMDA violated the proprietary rights of their members when it removed alleged illegal and oversized billboards along EDSA and other major Metro roads last May.