Press Release
October 14, 2008

MIRIAM: JAIL FOR BILLBOARD OWNERS, USERS

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that billboard owners and users should be prosecuted and jailed for the physical injuries to five people and property damage caused by illegal billboards that collapsed last Monday along Edsa.

Santiago was principal sponsor of the Anti-Billboard Bill passed by the Senate but ignored by the House of Representatives, reportedly because of the influence of a moneyed billboard lobby.

Under the Rules, since the bill failed to pass the 13th Congress, it must be refiled and pass both chambers all over again in the present 14th Congress.

"This recent man-made calamity could have been avoided if the House had passed my bill. But there was a conspiracy to let it die a natural death," Santiago said.

Santiago bitterly attacked an alleged billboard lobby for launching a media blitz against her bill, and working with certain representatives so that no action would be taken in the lower House.

"These illegal billboards have killed innocent people over several years. Under the police power of the state, they could even be banned outright. Corporate greed is driving these billboards, because the law is too liberal. Radical problems need radical solutions," Santiago said.

Santiago said that at first, the billboard groups cooperated with her billboard subcommittee, but when she refused to water-down her original bill, they turned against her.

The senator said that media is afraid to take up the anti-billboard advocacy, because even its own advertisers are using the billboards.

"Advertising is acceptable, provided it takes a form that does not endanger lives and property," she said.

She said that under existing laws, any person involved in the construction and use of illegal billboards can be sent to jail and ordered to pay damages to the victims who have suffered injuries.

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