PHILIPPINES, JANUARY 19, 2011 – Billboards will soon be up for regulation, as the Outdoor Out-of-Home (OOH) Media Industry Act of 2010 gains support from Congress. The bill seeks to regulate OOH, covering issues of size, technical specifications, safety, environmental impact, aesthetics, and more. The industry is estimated to be worth around P6 billion, according to the Manila Bulletin.
The bill is principally sponsored by Rep. Leopoldo N. Bataoil of 2nd District, Pangasinan, co-sponsored by Rep. Mohammed Hussein P. Pangandaman (1st District, Lanao del Sur). More lawmakers are rallying behind it, and it is also supported by the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) through the Outdoor Media Advocacy Group (OMAG).
“Reasonable governmental regulation is necessary in order to bring order and standardization. The perplexing issues on size, spacing and structural integrity of OOH media, including environmental soundness and technical concerns, are well addressed in the Bataoil bill. We are all supporting its immediate passage,” Atty. Winthrop H.R. Bañez told MB.
The OOHM industry is observed to be “chaotic”, and current laws for regulation are scattered throughout the statute books and various government, civic, and building codes.
“House Bill No. 3159 would address the outdated laws that regulate the industry and would set and clear the parameters and expectations for all industry players, including government regulatory bodies,” Bataoil said. “We need to centralize and update these laws in order for us to meet the demands of advances in technology and bring us further into the 21st century,” Bataoil says
Source: Manila Bulletin.
