CA: MMDA has power to regulate billboards

The Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the power of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to regulate billboards and advertising signs along major roads in the metropolis.

In a 21-page decision released last week, the appellate court’s Second Division reversed a 2013 ruling of the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC), which stopped the MMDA from issuing clearances and permits for advertising billboards.

The CA held that Makati RTC Branch 58 Judge Eugene Paras committed grave abuse of discretion in granting the petition filed by advertising firms.

The CA dismissed the complaint filed by Summit Publishing Co. Inc., Bigboard Advertising Corp. and Sygoo Enterprises questioning the validity of a memorandum of agreement between the MMDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The DPWH deputized the MMDA to implement provisions of the National Building Code and regulate the issuances of permits for the installation of billboards.

The advertising firms filed a petition for the issuance of a writ of injunction against the MMDA after the their applications for billboard permits were denied for failure to comply with the requirements set by the MMDA.

They questioned the validity of memorandum circulars issued by the MMDA pertaining to guidelines for the issuances of permits for billboards.

The Makati court issued a writ of preliminary injunction restraining the MMDA from confiscating, rolling down and demolishing billboards and other items similarly engaged in the business of outdoor media advertising.

The CA, however, noted that the lower court disregarded the admission of the advertising firms that they violated the MMDA’s rules on billboards.

The ruling was penned by Associate Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando. Associate Justices Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla and Socorro Inting concurred with the ruling.