In a press conference, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane said the DPWH will take action despite the resistance posed by the advertising industry.

Ebdane issued the warning after Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago urged him last Tuesday to strictly enforce a DPWH circular banning billboards alongside major roads nationwide.

"We have the authority as defined in the National Building Code to take action against those billboards that really protrude (and pose) potential accidents to our people," Ebdane said.

The circular was drafted by the DPWH National Building Code Development Office (NBCDO) and has been sent to Ebdane for approval, NBCDO director Emmanuel Cuntapay said.

Once approved, the order would prohibit the putting up of advertising billboards within a 100-meter radius of the center of national roads as well as power transmission lines.

It also calls for the removal within six months of existing billboards within the 100-meter radius.

The order was drawn up to protect motorists from being distracted by the billboards.

"The premise of this under the building code is that anything that distracts the motorist is a violation. If a motorist gets distracted, he may get into accidents," Cuntapay said.

He said the order would be enforced by building officials of local government units.

Cuntapay noted that in Metro Manila, giant billboards, some featuring models in provocative poses, loom over major thoroughfares in full view of motorists. He said this should not be the case. He said in Singapore, billboards do not face the road but face buildings because their targets are not motorists but the occupants of the buildings.

Following several incidents of falling billboards, including those installed above the tracks of the Metro Railway Transit (MRT) on Epifanio de los Santos Ave., Ebdane ordered building officials to conduct a technical inspection of the billboards in Metro Manila.

The officials were instructed to conduct an inventory of all buildings and other public structures where the billboards are posted to determine whether these are still fit to use.