PHILIPPINES, MAY 5, 2011 – The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) conducted an inspection of 2,000 billboards along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) on May 4 to check their compliance with the National Building Code and local ordinances. Prior to the inspection, the MMDA held a meeting last March with outdoor advertisers to examine the billboards along EDSA and to address problems without unnecessarily affecting business operations.
The MMDA engineering team, backed up by members of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineering, evaluates the billboards’ easements and structural stability, tags billboard structures with a control number if the billboards in compliance with the code and ordinances or rolls down the billboard, placing a notice of violation that should be addressed within 15 days upon receipt of notice. The structures should be five meters from the property line, not close to an electric line and at least 100 meters apart from other billboards.
Notices are sent to the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines, which forwards them to the advertising company in charge of the structure.
MMDA seeks to regulate the installation of billboards, which are potential threats to commuters and could be hazardous when it comes to calamities such as earthquakes.
After EDSA, the authorities will conduct inspections on Roxas Boulevard and C-5. The inspections are a joint project of the MMDA, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Philippine Institute of Civil Engineering, Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) and Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP).
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Image licensed CC BY-NC-ND Michael Agustin via Flickr
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