No new rules on billboards — DPWH

In an apparent move to avoid legal challenges on its plan to regulate billboards along major roads, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday a pending circular would simply be an "amplification" of existing laws.

The DPWH virtually made a turn-around on the issue and suddenly claimed no new regulations would be imposed in connection with billboards, following their meeting with the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) last Tuesday.

DPWH Director Emmanuel Cuntapay, chief of National Building Code Development Office (NBCDO), said the OAAP raised no objection to the proposed implementation of a circular banning buildings and structures, including pylons and billboards within a 100-meter radius from the center of national roads and transmission lines.

"We explained to them that these regulations are just an amplification or clarification of the National Building Code. They seemed fine with that," Cuntapay said in an interview. — Edu Punay