MANILA, Philippines—Motorists who may be distracted by billboards featuring models in skimpy underwear and outfits can now focus their attention on the road.

On Tuesday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it would dismantle "sexy billboards" featuring models and celebrity endorsers in sexy outfits.

Public Works Undersecretary Rafael Yabut, however, said that while the effect of the suggestive billboard ads on the youth was a concern, they were dismantling the billboards because of various violations of the Building Code of the Philippines.

DPWH field engineers already identified 17 outdoor advertisements showing "almost naked male and female models" along EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and other major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

According to Yabut, the outdoor ads were constructed near power lines while some violated the required five-meter setback from the residential area.

Other billboards, he added, did not have the required permits and were placed on defective structures.

Some of the billboards had also encroached on the road right of way, he explained.

Yabut said they would likewise bring down signages near the elevated train system in Metro Manila.

"We are only after the safety of the public and the proper implementation of the laws," the DPWH official said.

Yabut also called on the operators of this type of signages to voluntarily take down the structures for the sake of the youth whose sensibilities, he said, might be affected by the images they see on the billboards.

But, there is a problem. The DPWH is having difficulty defining what a "sexy" image was that could have a negative effect on the young, that it was consulting the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and the Catholic Women’s League of the Philippines "to help us define what sexy is."

"We appeal to the sense of social and moral responsibility of the billboard operators. I know some of them are parents, too," Yabut told reporters.

He, however, emphasized that the basis for dismantling were the violations of the building code.

"It just so happened that those billboards had sexy images on them," he said.

But still, Yabut said, "We must have a renewed consciousness to protect (the innocence) of our children."