The outdoor media industry appeals to critics to stop blaming the billboards as the cause of worsening traffic conditions, specifically traffic buildups.
Atty. Troy Bañez, spokesperson for the Outdoor Media Advocacy Group (OMAG), points out that national roads will always be congested, especially during certain hours of the day, with or without the so-called eye catching or sexy billboards.
“There are so many factors behind the perennial traffic problems: an escalating number of vehicles plying the roads, malfunctioning traffic lights, errant public utility vehicles, inefficient traffic enforcers, and roads that are simply out-of-condition,” asserts Atty. Bañez.
“Singling out the outdoor ads is unfair. As far as we know, there has been no reported accident caused by a motorist or a pedestrian due to attention to billboards,” he says.
OMAG is composed of major billboard operators and the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP).
The group also cringes at allegations that some billboards are “pornographic and immoral”.
Billboard ads require approval from the Ad Standards Council (ASC) of the Advertising Board of the Philippines prior to installation. “Its contents are reviewed by the ASC with the consumer’s interest as a paramount consideration and to safeguard truth in advertising,” clarifies OMAG member and United Neon Ads president Danny Lim.
Atty. Bañez added that some products and services call for visually candid ads to effectively communicate their message to the audience. “For instance, how can you promote body-sculpting services convincingly without displaying a curvy body?” he asks. “Or execute an underwear clothing campaign without showing models wearing the articles?”
“The important thing is the visuals are executed tastefully and passed the stringent requirements of the ASC,” he adds.
The industry assures the public that outdoor ad group members themselves help ensure that all policies are followed and errant suppliers are reprimanded. United Neon, for one, is adamant against accepting projects from advertisers of the so-called sin products like tobacco, gambling and alcohol. It is the policy of the company not to accept sin products and lewd or sexually explicit printed material for display in our structures even if it is approved by ASC.
OMAG also entertains reports and complaints on structural, safety and content issues concerning out-of-home ads. For their observations or complaints, the public may call the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines at (02) 7510255 or contact OMAG at 09178310511.
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."
