Miriam refiles anti-billboard bill, hits House

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago refiled yesterday the Anti-Billboard Blight Act even as she criticized some congressmen of derailing the passage of the measure that seeks to ban large billboards along major roads in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Santiago said she will ask the Senate leadership to prioritize her bill that will impose stiffer penalties against violators who insist on putting up these huge billboards in major thoroughfares in Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

The Anti-Billboard Blight Bill of 2006 was passed in the Senate in the last Congress, however, it failed to hurdle the scrutiny at the House. Santiago lamented that it took the Senate over six months to prepare the bill.