TRO vs MMDA drive lapses
An official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said that Sunday there was no more legal roadblock to the agency’s campaign against illegal billboards after a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a court lapsed last month.
In a radio interview, MMDA Assistant General Manager Emerson Carlos explained that the TRO issued by Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 133 Judge Elpidio Calis expired on October 1.
Calis later inhibited himself from the case, which was reraffled and is now being heard by Judge Rommel Baybay of the Makati RTC Branch Branch 132.
Carlos, however, stopped short of saying whether the MMDA would resume its drive against oversized and illegal billboards displayed on minor and major thoroughfares, including EDSA.
“What we said was that the TRO had expired and no preliminary injunction [had been] issued [by the court],” Carlos said in a text message to the Inquirer.
When pressed whether the MMDA would resume its anti-billboard campaign, the official was noncommittal.
Earlier, the court asked the MMDA to begin presenting its evidence on November 25 and December 9 before a resolution could be issued on whether or not there was a need to issue another TRO.
“In my mind, there is no reason to issue another stay order. The TRO has lapsed and there’s nothing I can do about it. But the court cannot decide until the respondent has presented its evidence,” the judge said.
He pointed out though that the Outdoor Advertisers Association of the Philippines (OAAP), the petitioner in the case, could still pursue other legal remedies to prevent the MMDA from pursuing its drive against illegal billboards.
In filing the case, OAAP claimed that the MMDA disregarded the propriety rights of its individual and corporate members when it dismantled advertising materials posted in several areas in Metro Manila.
The antibillboard drive was launched after several oversized advertisements fell at the height of strong winds spawned by previous typhoons, causing either death or injury.
