The government will resume its campaign against unsafe and illegal billboards and other outdoor commercial displays that also pose undue distractions to motorists and may lead to accidents.
“Yes, we are now preparing for the resumption of our operations next year. The Department of Public Works and Highways will be the lead agency and we will assist them,” said Thomas Orbos, acting chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, before the New Year holiday.
Orbos said the DPWH will come up with the rules and regulations on how to reimplement the “Oplan Baklas Billboard,” which was initially enforced during the time of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The campaign’s resumption comes on the heels of reports that most billboards displayed in Metro Manila, especially along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, continue violating provisions of the Building Code on setbacks, yard requirements, and nonconformity to land use. while some even having the nerve to re-erect their billboards after the government’s dismantling operations in the past.
The DPWH had signed a memorandum of agreement deputizing the MMDA to implement provisions of the National Building Code that regulates the issuance of clearances to applicants of billboard permits.
Before this, the MMDA came up with a comprehensive study and plan about billboards. It stated that outdoor commercial displays could also cause road accidents.
The MMDA, which is part of the inter-agency council managing and controlling traffic in Metro Manila, said billboards have too many negative impacts—as environmental hazards, endangering public safety, increased crash rates, and traffic slowdown.
Another study conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta in 2013 showed that attractive and highly-emotive words and images on commercial billboards can affect driving behavior.
“Driver distraction is estimated to be one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents. However, little is known about the role of emotional distraction on driving, despite evidence that attention is highly biased toward emotion,” the study says.
Researchers Michelle Chan and Anthony Singhal said drivers passing signs “with negative words such as abuse, stress, prison or war, tended afterward to slow down and drift from their lane” while drivers passing signs with positive words like ‘cash, fame, sex and win’ did the opposite, speeding up on the simulated road.”
Three years ago, Makati City came up with an ordinance against giant billboards and other displays that pose hazards to public safety.
The ordinance, supported by the MMDA, sets specific billboard dimensions and spacing between billboards at designated locations identified in the Billboard Location Map, which are classified as Area 1 (along Major Roads), Area 2 (along Secondary Roads), and Area 3 (Special Development Zones).
Major roads categorized under Area 1 include Edsa, South Superhighway, Magallanes Avenue, Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue and Ayala Avenue.
Billboards or electronic displays in Area 1 must comply with the maximum allowable surface or display area in proportion to the width of the road, according to the ordinance.
Billboards along roads more than 45 meters wide (147.6 feet) shall have a maximum surface area of 162 square meters (1,743.8 square feet); for road width from 20 to 45 meters (65.6 to 147.6 feet), maximum surface area shall be 81 square meters (871.9 square feet); for roads less than 20 meters wide, surface area shall be not more than 40 square meters (430.6 square feet).
Also in Area 1, a freestanding billboard or electronic display must not exceed 22.5 meters (73.8 feet) in height, which is to be measured from the average elevation of the surface of the natural ground or existing sidewalk or carriageway level (whichever is higher), up to the highest point of the billboard or any of its components.
The spacing requirements between billboards in Area 1 are also in proportion to the road width, as follows: 150 meters (492 feet) spacing for road width of 45 meters (147.6 feet); 100 meters (328 feet) for road width from 20 to 45 meters (65.6 feet to 147.6 feet); and 50 meters (164 feet) for road width of less than 20 meters.
In Greece, Ionian University professor and researcher Dalila Honorato wrote an article entitled “Consequences of Over Exposure to Billboards and Cultural Jamming.”
Honorato said billboards “not only serve to pollute the aesthetic landscape of the city, but also serve as distraction to the drivers and motorists on roads and cause accidents.”
“At a psychosomatic level, after being exposed to stressful situations, there seems to be a quick reduction of high stress levels, while driving through a billboard-free road of rural character, compared with driving through a road with billboards, where drivers experience higher blood pressure, heart rate and respiration, and increased eye movements and facial muscle activity,” she added.