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MPLA wants Marpi signs relocated
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Posted on Jul 21 2005
The Marianas Public Lands Authority, at the demand of the local tourism industry, has called for the relocation of billboards in Marpi closer to the Marianas Resort and Spa area.
MPLA public information officer Ed Arriola Jr. said yesterday that the agency had asked Life Spring Corp. to remove its commercial signs from its current location across the Last Command Post in Marpi, where several historical and sightseeing spots are situated.
According to Arriola, MPLA has left it to the discretion of Life Spring Corp. to choose where to relocate the signs, as long as the company places them in a more commercial area nearer the Marianas Resort and Spa.
MPLA’s action followed the agency’s July 15 meeting with officials of the Marianas Visitors Authority, which had opposed the placement of commercial signs around Marpi.
MVA said the four billboard panels currently erected across the Last Command Post ruin the ambience of the area.
The advertisements promote the Japanese dietary supplement brand FMW. Life Spring Corp., the product’s local distributor, paid $500 to MPLA for a permit to post the four panels.
According to MVA managing director Vicky Benavente, the commercial signs go against the tourism agency’s marketing strategy, which is to promote the Marpi area “as a natural environment where people are able to go for relaxation and/or meditation.”
Benavente listed the various reasons for Marpi’s popularity—from the shrines and historical relics to the natural jungle trails to the world-famous dive spot, the Grotto.
“Because we feel that commercial signs change the ambience of the area, the MVA is against any posting of such signs. In this regard, we hope that you would take our request of disapproving of posting commercial signs into consideration should another application come forth,” Benavente asked MPLA commissioner Edward Deleon Guerrero in a letter.
