MMDA files charges vs ad firms

THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has filed eight more cases against three companies illegally operating and maintaining giant billboards in Quezon City.

United Neon, Okachi Neon Manufacturing Corp. and Bigboard Advertising have been charged in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for violation of the National Building Code and its implementing rules and regulations and for lack of the necessary permits.

The MMDA said the billboards, located along Edsa, Bonifacio Avenue and Cubao, were installed without any building permits and encroached on setback requirements prescribed in the building code.

Installers of the eight billboards were given notices of rolldown/removal and confiscation of illegal advertising tarpaulins by the Quezon City government’s local building official, it added.

Violations

“The erring billboard operators have also been served notices of violations by the MMDA. They were granted a 15-day period to rectify the violations, but they did not comply,” said MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino.

The latest complaints brought to 18 the number of  cases  the agency had filed against the operators.

Last month,  Tolentino filed 10 cases against operators of illegal billboards in Makati City.

Along with the Department of Public Works and Highways and local government units, the MMDA kicked off in May “Operation Rolldown, Baby” by inspecting several of the roughly 2,000 advertisements on the 23-kilometer-long road.

Apart from rolling down the billboards, the MMDA also recently started demolishing billboard steel frames.

On Thursday, the city government of Mandaluyong removed what some sectors termed “offensive” billboards near the Pasig River. The giant ads featured seven players from the national rubgy team, the Philippine Volcanoes, in their underwear.

Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos on Friday urged advertisers to hold a dialogue on how they could police their ranks.

“The ad agency agreed to replace the billboards on the same day. I would like to make it clear that I only requested them to take the billboards down. It was not an order,” Abalos said in a phone interview.

Swamped with calls

He said he had been swamped with complaints about the billboards through text messages and phone calls, adding that one “sexy” billboard may not be noticeable, but four on a busy avenue were “eyesores” for some.

“Keep in mind that children also pass through Edsa and others may view these ads as inappropriate,” he added.

“Censorship is difficult on the part of the government. We prefer that they (ad agencies) police their ranks and exercise self-censorship in their advertisements,” he said.

In previous years, the Department of Public Works and Highways had ordered advertisers to remove ads showing models and celebrity endorsers, mostly women, in sexy outfits.

Near-naked women adorn billboards in major Metro Manila thoroughfares, but similar images of men have been deemed too risque.

Jimmy Isidro, spokesperson for the  Mandaluyong  City government, however, said there were no plans to take down billboards of women in  their underwear or bikinis, as there had been no complaints about these outdoor advertisements.

The huge billboards of bare-chested rugby players wearing only the close-fitting underwear of a clothing company prompted much comment on the streets of Manila and online after they appeared about a week ago.

“Hubba hubba,” a female senior executive of a publishing group wrote on Facebook, reflecting the views of many who were happy to see men being featured in sexy poses for advertisements, and not just women. With a report from AFP