Quezon City (6 October) -- Malacañang assured the public today that Administrative Order 160 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will check the proliferation of substandard advertising billboards in the country, specifically in Metro Manila.

"The President’s Administrative Order will give more teeth to the strict regulation of billboards so these will not pose a danger to the people," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said in a statement.

AO 160, signed by the President yesterday, directs the Department of Public Works and Higways (DPWH) to conduct field inspections, evaluations, and assessments of all commercial or non-commercial billboards nationwide and determine which of them "are of substandard condition."

The Press Secretary assured the billboard industry that the government will provide designated areas for the safe erection of their advertising billboards.

After evaluation and assessment, the DPWH will issue a certification as to those billboards found to be hazardous and violative of existing standards prescribed by the National Building Code, the Structural Code of the Philippines and other related legal issuances.