159 Ermin Garcia Street, Cubao, Quezon City

   

STATEMENT  RE  THE  METRO  MANILA  OUTDOOR  MAGNA  CARTA      To our Clients, Partners, Fellow Stakeholders and Friends in the Advertising Industry: Last Friday, September 20th, news of a Metro Manila Outdoor Media Magna Carta was announced. We wish to clarify that the Outdoor Media Advocacy Group and its members did not sign this Magna Carta, supposedly agreed upon by both the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA). We did not sign this Magna Carta for the following reasons:

1. We did not have the opportunity to discuss and debate the points of this document with the leadership panels of both MMDA and PANA.

2. We have serious issues regarding the legal authority of the signing parties as well as the legal validity of the provisions of the Magna Carta. While we were willing to meet with the leadership panels of both PANA and MMDA in the context of an open-minded discussion, we also intended to point out and assert our right to conduct our legitimate operations and businesses, as presently provided by Philippine law and currently codified under the National Building Code and its Additional Rules and Regulations. We already have a law, why can’t we just implement it?

3. We are concerned that MMDA may not be able to enforce this Magna Carta, as Metro Manila local governments have drawn up their own ordinances vis a vis outdoor media, some of which are inconsistent with those espoused by the Magna Carta.

We are indeed troubled that uncertainly continues to haunt our industry. To this end, as early as 2010, we had already initiated an effort to push for legitimate and reasonable legislation. After thorough discussions, we have decided that the best recourse to clear this uncertainty is the passage of a law, a Republic Act, which every government agency, outdoor media operator and property owner, and advertiser – whether national and local - is duty-bound to follow. Any codification less than a law of the land is challenged in its enforceability, and potentially subjects us all to the whims of powers that be. As we work toward the passage of this law, we remain committed to our advertisers and to our stakeholders in the industry. Nothing has changed. We will continue to offer you our inventory, as the present laws allow us to. And we commit to involve you in our defining advocacy at OMAG - a law that is truly responsive to and reflective of outdoor media's rightful place in our growing democracy.

Members of the Outdoor Media Advocacy Group 26 Sept 2013

Reference: Atty. Troy Banez, Executive Director