AS the rainy season starts and a number of typhoons are expected to hit the country, billboard advertisers assured that they have complied with the regulations set by government agencies concerned and met the latest engineering standards.

In a news conference, the Billboard Safety Initiatives (BSI), composed of five biggest billboard advertisers in the country, also asked the House of Representatives to come up with a Magna Carta of the Billboard and Outdoor Advertising Industry so as to regulate and mandate certain procedures for the industry.

The BSI is composed of United Neon, Media Pool Inc., Summit Media, Outcomm and Bigboard Advertising, which comprises 60 percent of the country’s billboard industry.

“Ang mga bagong patakaran po na na-set ng Department of Public Works and Highways … lahat po ay na-comply ng Big Five. We are all concerned with safety and we assure na dahil malapit na po ang tag-ulan at malapit na po ang panahon ng bagyo all the structures being set up by the Big Five are totally safe and are structurally sound by the latest engineering standards,” said lawyer Oliver San Juan, BSI’s spokesman.

The three regulations set by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are for billboard advertisers to secure permit from the local government, which is tasked to examine the technical specifications on the setting up of the structures; that each structure should have a liability insurance of at least P100,000 to cover for any accident; and that the billboards to be set up must meet the rigid technical specifications based on the regulations of the National Building Code.

After meeting these requirements, San Juan said the Big Five have been issued permits by the DPWH to set up billboards on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and other parts of Metro Manila.

Prior to the issuance of permits, San Juan said that the owners of the big five met with DPWH and building officials and discussed the new regulations in the setting up of billboards particularly the safety standards.

San Juan said the new regulations were issued by the department as a result of the incidents in the past, which resulted in the death of a number of people caused by the toppling down of billboards.

“Minarapat po nila [DPWH officials] na magkaroon ng mga stringent and stricter rules as a result of the past incidents,” San Juan said.

Lakas Rep. Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina has been pushing for stiffer penalties for violations of the Billboard Regulation Act of 2007 committed by billboard owners or builders.

Teodoro said that the billboard industry must be regulated “in view of more compelling duty of the State to protect the welfare and safety of its citizens.”

CA to Meralco: Refund P.5M to couple

THE Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. must pay a couple P500,000—lower than the demanded P1.38 million—as “temperate damages” for a defective electric meter that resulted in an unreasonable increase in their electric bills.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The military on Monday filed a cease-fire violation complaint before the Joint Committee on Cease-fire and Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whom it accused of starting the fighting in Basilan, on Sunday.

PRESIDENT Arroyo on Monday sent off a 30-member medical mission to Burma to help in international relief efforts for victims of a devastating cyclone that hit that country early this month.

AS the rainy season starts and a number of typhoons are expected to hit the country, billboard advertisers assured that they have complied with the regulations set by government agencies concerned and met the latest engineering standards.

NATIONAL Police Traffic Management Group (TMG) personnel on Monday conducted a crackdown on violators of the “no plate, no travel” policy and bagged at least 50 violators inside Camp Crame, Quezon City, the force’s general headquarters.

THE volume of motor-vehicle traffic in the island-province of Basilan has posted a marked increase during the last two years.

It may be an indication of the increase in economic activities on this island, which was associated in the past with Abu Sayyaf-linked fighting and kidnappings.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) started on Monday its series of public demonstrations and presentations on automated voting for the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), at a public forum organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), an election watchdog.