LTO-7, city told: Address problem on noisy vehicles

CEBU, Philippines -  An anti-noise pollution advocate has called the attention of government entities to address the problem on noisy motorcycles or particularly those that have modified mufflers (locally known as bora-bora).

Lawyer June Marianne Ediza said the Land Transportation Office-7 and the Cebu City Transportation Office are guided by existing traffic regulations but believed that road policies have “been put to sleep by the authorities.”

“As I have observed, the number of motorcycles using modified mufflers and passing on the roads of Cebu City has grown in number [and] that noise pollution caused by this device has also gotten worse… help me and the victims of noise pollution caused by these motorcycles with bora-bora,” read Ediza’s letter addressed to Mayor Michael Rama.

Ediza likewise sent a letter to LTO-7 requesting it to enforce Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999.

She said that noise pollution has adverse effects, asking the city government about the implementation of City Ordinance 2411 or the “Anti-Muffler Modification Ordinance of 2013,” which prohibits and penalizes vehicle owners that modify their mufflers.

Ediza considered modified mufflers as the number one noise pollutant in the city.

The city ordinance stated that motor vehicles are originally equipped with silencers or mufflers, but some motor vehicle owners remove the silencers or modify mufflers for the exhaust pipe to produce louder sound.

Anyone found violating the traffic ordinance, which was approved on November 19, 2014, will be penalized from P500 to P5,000.

Rama earlier turned down the proposed ordinance, saying there is a need to include the implementing agency and its authority to formulate rules and regulations in order to avoid any legal complications once the proposed measure takes effect.

But a month later, the City Council overruled Rama’s veto on the ordinance.

CCTO executive director Rey Gealon said he will check the records at the Operations Division, assuring that the office will “leave no stone unturned in the field of enforcement.” —/LPM  (FREEMAN)