PHILIPPINES, MAY 6, 2011 – Following the sudden rolling down of tarpaulins of EDSA billboards by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on May 4, the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) expressed concern over the MMDA’s conduct in a letter to the MMDA sent on the same day.
The MMDA, in an apparent turnaround of its original policy to issue a memorandum circular on billboards in EDSA with prior consultation with all stakeholders, announced instead an inspection of the billboards for compliance with building code and structural stability and easement compliance.
However, in the process of inspection, the MMDA used a checklist as a basis for the inspection of billboards to verify if the inspected billboard is in compliance with the provisions of the National Building Code. This checklist, which the OAAP later found not in consonance with the provisions of the National Building Code and its implementing rules and regulations and the Additional Rules and Regulations on Billboards, was not taken up by the MMDA with the advertising industry stakeholders during its meeting on May 3, 2011.
Based on the said checklist with 32 items for compliance, the MMDA Inspection Team ruled that the inspected billboard is not in compliance thus the tarpaulins were rolled down.
This move of the MMDA, the OAAP claims, is in complete disregard of the structure owner’s basic constitutional requirement of due process. “In effect,” the OAAP added, “the MMDA has already made a judicial determination that the offending structure is a nuisance and then actually roll down the advertising material therein, to the damage and prejudice of the structure owner’s contractual rights and obligations.”
Moreover, this tarpaulin rolling down activity would contradict the valid clearances and permits issued by the DPWH and the appropriate LGU, the apparent source of the MMDA’s delegated power.
The OAAP appealed to the MMDA to immediately stop the rolling down of the advertising material and instead proceed with the inspection and tagging of the billboards and give a notice of their findings to the billboard owners to allow them to rectify violations within the allotted 15-day period.
The association reiterated that it is most willing to cooperate and support in the regulation of the advertising industry in a manner that it will not jeopardize the livelihood and contractual obligations of its members.
Image licensed CC BY-NC-ND Michael Agustin via Flickr
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