by Susan G. de Leon
QUEZON CITY, Dec. 26 (PIA) -- Effective January 2012 the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will implement new guidelines regulating billboards and other advertising signs along major thoroughfares in the metropolis.
MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said in a statement that under the new guidelines, owners and operators of billboards along major thoroughfares such as EDSA, C-5, Roxas Boulevard, and Macapagal Avenue shall obtain a clearance from the MMDA.
The statement further said that all billboard owners are required to submit their existing permits to the MMDA and their respective local government units for verification and validation.
The new rules were supported by the Metro Manila Council (MMC) mayors and the MMDA after a series of consultative meetings early this year.
Under the new guidelines, the MMDA shall enforce and implement the National Building Code provisions on billboards along major and national thoroughfares falling within its jurisdiction upon the issuance of structural and locational clearances for billboard operators.
The guideline on locational and structural clearance and on height and size limitations further provide that effective January 1st, 2012, all existing billboard building permits, business permits and clearances shall be disregarded or canceled, and all billboard sign owners shall be required to apply for clearances or permits anew from their respective local government units.
The statement also said that by January 2012, all billboards must have a size of 60x40 feet and be at least 100 meters apart, or they will be removed adding that the campaign objective is to institute a standard on billboard similar to those implemented in other countries such as Sao Paulo in Brazil and Honolulu in Hawaii, United States where many areas are billboard-free.
The MMDA is eyeing to remove some 424 billboards along the metro’s main thoroughfare for violations such as no building permits, certificate of use, violation of the National Building Code, and locational clearance.
However, the MMDA chief said he will meet with members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) before enforcing the new guideline to discuss with them the need to regulate the industry. (MMDA/RJB/SDL-PIA NCR, Monday, December 26, 2011)
