Almost five months after MMDA declared the billboards along EDSA dangerous because of the damage they caused when typhoon Milenyo battered Metro Manila, I noticed that the billboards have resurfaced. I think they even increased in number. Some billboards advertise baby food, alcoholic beverages, schools, apparels and many other products and services. Some billboards are used in real estate advertising. I also noticed that there are now many kinds of billboards along EDSA. Billboards used to be simple, very large panels with products and services printed on them. Now, billboards have become smarter. There are now mechanical billboards, those which show two or three advertisements in rotation. There are also digital ones.
While I was in the MRT last night, I thought of MMDA's campaign to get rid of these dangerous outdoor structures in places with high traffic such as EDSA. I wonder what happened to it. I hope MMDA officials will get serious about their campaign to prevent another tragedy.