DPWH to dismantle unsafe billboards on key roads

Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr ordered the dismantling of illegally dismantled billboards, his first move after he returned to the Department of Public Works and Highways. Cathy Cabral, DPWH director for planning, told reporters on Monday that Ebdane ordered a team to identify billboards that pose risks to lives especially during the typhoon season. "We will be expecting more aggressive activities in dismantling billboards and we will be targeting those along the national roads," Cabral said during the weekly Kapihan ng Bayan forum at Sulo Hotel in Quezon City . She said the team was also instructed to spot billboards that violate the building code and other rules, which will be readily dismantled according to Cabral. The DPWH will also remove all display ads without valid permits, including those with structural defects and are hazard-prone. "As long as we find it dangerous and have no permit, the department will remove the structure regardless of its size," she said. In September last year, typhoon Milenyo ravaged Metro Manila and toppled hundreds of billboards. At least one died, after the victim was hit by a billboard that fell in Muntinlupa City. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo then issued Administrative Order 160 in response to the proliferation of oversized and illegally-built billboards along major thoroughfares to prevent similar incidents. The DPWH and the Metro Manila Development Authority tore down ad displays installed along the tracks of Light Rail Transit line 1, Metro Rail Transit stations and other areas. - GMANews.TV