MMDA's response to injunction

MMDA to seek reversal of order vs billboard crackdown
Sunday, January 22, 2012

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) readies its petition seeking the lifting of a court injunction on its crackdown on oversized billboards.

Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Divina Gracia Lopez earlier issued a writ of preliminary injunction against the agency's anti-billboard drive.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino called the latest development a temporary debacle as the agency's legal team is preparing its defense on what he called a "patently illegal" court order.

He said the court should have been more sparing in blocking campaigns that promote public safety.

Lawyer Alu Dorotan, MMDA deputy spokesperson, meanwhile, said MMDA will exhaust all legal means to reverse the court ruling.

"We will question the legality of the writ of preliminary injunction issued against the agency and file a motion of reconsideration under the period prescribed by law," Dorotan said during the MMDA's weekly radio program Sunday.

She said the court's order left them baffled, especially when it covered all the billboards, all 119 of them, owned by complainant Ever Corporation when its petition covered only two such structures located at 995 UC Dapitan Hardware/ Lumber, Edsa, Quezon City.

The MMDA maintained that the dismantling of two billboards owned by the complainant, which have triggered the case, was done upon the request of the Quezon City Government.

"The billboards were without any building permit from the local government," said Dorotan.

The agency cited that Section 301 of the National Building Code states that any entity erecting or constructing any building or structure should first obtain a building permit from the Building Official assigned in the place where the building is located.

Early this year, Tolentino expressed confidence there will be fewer lawsuits, much more injunctions to halt its projects after a Makati court junked a petition by the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) seeking to stop the impending implementation of new billboard guidelines approved by the Metro Manila Council (MMC), the policy-making body of the MMDA, whose members are the 17 Metro mayors.

Last year, the agency sustained several legal debacles including a court injunction on its anti-smoking crackdown.

Meanwhile, the OAAP has asked the MMDA to reconsider the implementation of new billboard guidelines, especially on the proposed uniform size for such structures located along major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

OAAP chairman Jose Vale said the size requirement of 20X40 feet (80-100 square meters) under the guidelines that the MMDA want to enforce is too small for advertising purposes.

"We firmly believe that the billboard size (area) of 80-100 square meters is too small for the advertisers to consider. It is possible that they will shift to other forms of media and because of this most outdoor companies will close shop,” Vale said.

He said the ideal size should be 40X60 feet or 225 square meters.

"To be an effective medium of communication and information dissemination, OAAP agrees to a maximum size of 225 square meters. Anything below may render the medium ineffective as a means of communication," Vale added.

On other hand, anything above 225 square meters maybe too large, per industry standards, both from a safety and aesthetic point of view, he said.

But despite their opposition to the new guidelines, the group said they will continue to work with the MMDA to find a middle ground on the issue that balance that concerns of every party involved.

"We want to extend our hands of cooperation to once and for all address the billboard problems in Metro Manila and break the impasse between OAAP and MMDA," Valle said.

Following a ruling of the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) junking the OAAP's petition against the MMDA on the issue, agency chairman Francis Tolentino said they are ready to renew the crackdown adding that there was no more legal obstacle to its implementation.

Tolentino said the uniform size of billboards and other outdoor advertising signs will regulate the proliferation of illegal and oversized billboards along EDSA and other major roads in Metro Manila.

He added the MMDA will soon be dismantling billboards that violate the provisions of the National Building Code, especially those found to have no building permit from the local government units concerned.

Last year, Tolentino launched "Operation Roll Down, Baby" that targeted oversized billboards and those that had obscene visual contents, touching off a bitter legal battle with OAAP. (AH/Sunnex)
--
From: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/01/22/mmda-seek-reversal-order-vs-billboard-crackdown-201940