We must have laws governing billboards

In Athens, the government gave billboards owners four years to remove the unsightly and dangerous billboards when the city prepared itself as host for the 2004 Olympics. Here, it took typhoon Milenyo to make the authorities realize that billboards posed a danger to pedestrians and motorists. No less than 12 billboards were blown down by typhoon Milenyo. In Makati, Metro Manila’s financial center, an FX taxi driver was killed and another injured after a billboard landed right smack on their vehicles.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando has stated that the owners of the collapsed billboards will be held criminally responsible for the deaths and damage to property caused by the fallen billboards. He cited at least one specific law of MMDA that states that all billboards constructed along the right of way needed MMDA approval. None of the collapsed billboards had any MMDA approval to construct. The question is why was their attention not called.

The billboard casualties has made President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo come out with a statement that billboards are now the most hazardous element in land travel. Typhoon Milenyo was the first typhoon to hit Metro Manila in the last 12 years. It made obvious the fact that billboards were a graver threat than trees and lamp posts. Thousand of trees totally collapsed from the typhoon. But the problem they caused was just clearing up the streets from fallen branches and leaves. We have not heard or read of any fatalities caused by trees or electric posts. So President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s observation is valid. Billboards are a major threat when a typhoon strikes.

We cannot abolish billboards. They are actually part of the advertising field. What we must do is to have laws to ensure that only safe billboards will be given permits to construct. A good way to start is to examine the laws governing billboards that some advanced countries have. We can be sure that these laws are based on past experience.

We had always assumed that when billboards were constructed they had permits from the MMDA and the local government. If they had no permits then they were flagrantly violating the law and we can’t help wonder why no action was taken against them.

We hope that in the future, permits to construct billboards will be granted only to firms that will ensure that it will not endanger public safety. In short, they should be constructed in places and in a way that under no circumstances could they be transformed into flying hazards. We have to be careful when we are out in the streets. We have to watch for cars that pass by. It is bad enough to be hit by lightning. But to be struck by a billboard is something no one deserves.