Lawmaker seeks stiffer rules to prevent falling billboards

Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra proposed on Saturday to impose excise taxes, among other things, on billboards, which have lately been the cause of destruction of lives and property whenever a strong typhoon sends them crashing down, as Typhoon Milenyo did in many parts of Metro Manila on Thursday and Friday. In a statement, Mitra also proposed to prevent this perennial problem of falling billboards is to impose tougher building rules, limit their sizes, and compel their owners to get insurance. "It will be impossible to ban billboards, without driving many people out of work, many companies out of business, and without reducing the income of local governments," Mitra said. According to the son and namesake of the late Speaker Ramon Mitra, the "next best option" is regulate outdoor advertising with public safety as the foremost consideration. "Impose excise tax on billboards as a penalty for blighting the landscape. Earmark all revenues for education. This way the billboards we read can help our children read," the young lawmaker said. "It would also help if advertisers undergo mandatory insurance for their huge billboards," Mitra added. "On top of this, owners should post a bond with the local government to cover expenses incurred should it or part of it fall on people and property." Mitra also proposed that giant billboards, particularly the steel-framed ones along highways, be installed a "safe distance away from houses, buildings, electrical lines, and roads where there is heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic." "Adopt ïa no-structure rule within the radius of a billboard's base, whose measurement must be horizontally equivalent to its height. So if it collapses, no surrounding structure will be damaged," he said. Sizes of billboards should also be regulated. "Levy higher fees for gargantuan ones. The bigger the billboard, the bigger the tax. Set a maximum size. No King Kong size tarpaulins," Mitra suggested. He also proposed that the national government, or the local government concerned, should enforce tougher materials and construction standards in the construction of billboard scaffoldings. "When inferior steel meets imperfect construction, it reduces a billboard into an accident waiting to happen. Create a prototype which has been tested to withstand 200 kph gusts and make this the industry standard," Mitra added. His other suggestions: "Also, billboards should be subjected to regular and rigorous structural inspection by competent authorities especially on the start of the monsoon season, which is usually from June to October every year. "Preach what you practice. Government should lead the way in tearing down its own non-essential tarpaulins. Cities and the countryside must be places of sights, not signs. "Tap consumer power. The public should be advised not to patronize goods and services advertised in billboards which violate safety and construction standards, and assault aesthetics." - GMANews.TV