Council OK's ordinance regulating billboards
Iloilo City -- From now on, there would be no new construction or installation of billboards and other forms of outdoor advertisements in the city of Iloilo.
This, after the Sangguniang Panlungsod, in its weekly regular session last Wednesday, passed on second and final reading an ordinance declaring an immediate moratorium on the construction and installation of billboards in the city of Iloilo except for government purposes and providing penalty thereof.
The said ordinance was authored by Iloilo City councilor Perla Zulueta, chairman of the Sanggunian Committee on Ways and Means.
Earlier, Majority Floorleader Eduardo Peņaredondo, chairman of the Sanggunian Committee on Legal Affairs, in his committee report on the proposed ordinance, recommended its passage, saying:"Declaring an immediate moratorium on the construction and installation of billboards in the city of Iloilo is a valid exercise of the police power of the state."
Zulueta, for her part, said"the problem in the unregulated proliferation of billboards in the city of Iloilo has come to the attention of the city government and the Sangguniang Panlungsod has decided to come up with an ordinance regulating its construction and installation in the interests of public policy, public safety, public order and general welfare."
"In this light, there is a need for a moratorium on the construction and installation of billboards in Iloilo City except for government purposes until the passage of an ordinance that will regulate the construction and installation of these billboards, identify areas where billboards may be allowed constructed/installed, and provide standard-size requirements for these billboards," Zulueta further said in justifying the said ordinance.
The moratorium will take effect immediately after its posting in conspicuous places in the city and its publication in a newspaper of local circulation and will last until an ordinance regulating the construction and installation of billboards in the city of Iloilo would have been passed.
Zulueta promised to start drafting the guidelines for the ordinance regulating billboards in the city of Iloilo immediately after the Dinagyang Festival, which is scheduled on the last weekend of January.
Illegal construction
In a related development, Councilor Armand Parcon informed the body that he received at least two verified complaints coming from concerned citizens in Bakhaw, Mandurriao regarding what he believes as an illegal construction of structural frames that would eventually carry billboards or advertising signboards.
Parcon’s statement debunked claims earlier made by Kagawad Joe Espinosa III, who said there appears no new construction of these structures in the city of Iloilo.
“What interests me with the said complaints is that the said structures are being constructed in a public land. Now, who authorized them to build their structures in a public land? Who authorized the said construction? Could there be someone in the city government who is making money out of this?" Parcon said.