BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance providing for the policies and guidelines for the display of signs, signboards and advertising materials in the city and repealing Ordinance No. 111, series of 1949 which regulates the display or erection of signs, signboards and bulletin boards in the city, prescribing permit fees and providing for other purposes and ordinance No. 302, series of 1958.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Faustino A. Olowan stated that applicants for permit shall secure a clearance or authorization from the barangay concerned where said billboard, signs or signboards shall be placed; submit a written request addressed to the Office of the City Mayor, which will be endorsed to the City Planning and Development Office or the Department of Public works and Highways as the case may be; accomplish all the necessary requirements as further laid down under existing rules and regulations; obtain clearance; pay the necessary fees and obtain permit from the City Building and Architecture office (CBAO).
The ordinance stipulated that signs and signboard structure may be constructed only in areas where zoning regulations permit them; no sign or signboard structures shall be placed or erected on parks and playgrounds, beside power substations or residential, institutional and recreation zones; signs shall display only messages or visuals that conform to public decency or good taste; signs shall be placed in such as manner as not to confuse or obstruct the view or interpretation of any public sign, traffic signal or devise, nor obstruct the sight, attract or destruct the attention of motorists, reflect blinding light or cause glare oncoming traffic; advertising materials made up of tarpaulins may be allowed, provided, the owners employ a crew who will detach and roll down the same in case there will be a typhoon bulletin; tarpaulins and reinforced fabric advertising signs shall only be allowed to be displayed for a maximum period of 2 weeks, unless the same is extended through the approval of the City Mayor, including payment of appropriate fees and no signs, signboards or bulletin boards shall be nailed, bolted or installed to any part of a tree, as provided for in Ordinance No. 005, series of 1990 as amended by Ordinance NO. 006, series of 2012.
Under the proposed ordinance, any person, firm, entity or corporation who displays or maintains in his or its premises or erects any outdoor sign, signboard or bulletin board in a place exposed to public view, except such as specifically exempted by law and set forth shall ay a permit fee on each sign, signboard or bulletin board which range from P500 to P1,000 each.
The ordinance also reconstituted the Signs, Signboards and Advertising Materials Committee which will be chaired by the City Mayor with the City Building Official as Action officer and the preventative from the DPWH-CAR and DPWH-BCDEO, City Planning and Development Coordinator, City Engineer, City Environment and Parks Management Officer (CEPMO), City General Services officer and City Legal Officer as members.
Further, the Committee Secretariat shall be composed of employees of the City Building and Architecture Office (CBAO).
To bend with the changing time and situation, the ordinance noted that the local government’s existing regulations in the display and reaction of signs, signboards and bulletin boards should be updated and the old measures be repeated.
By Dexter A. See
