My Random Thoughts: Killer Billboards

One week after typhoon Milenyo (international name Xangsane) wreaked havoc in the streets of Metro Manila last September 28, 2006, the damages that the strong typhoon brought are still evident. People who have lost their homes are trying to piece together what was left of their belongings. Power supply and telephone lines in different parts of the city have not been fully restored. Huge billboards that fell during the fury of the typhoon that killed a number of people are still major traffic obstructions for motorists. The government has initiated plans to limit the construction of these killer billboards along the busiest thoroughfare in the metropolis, the Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue or more popularly known as EDSA which was long overdue.

It is an irony that the Philippines is always visited by no less than 20 typhoons a year and yet people and government are always unprepared and caught by surprise when nature unleashes its fury. The untimely death of these people could have been avoided had we followed the laws and implemented it correctly. It is a bitter lesson for everyone.