Proposed ordinance to ban noisy mufflers

CEBU City residents irritated over the noise of modified mufflers may soon find some relief.

A proposed ordinance to prohibit the use or operation of vehicles with noisy modified mufflers is undergoing review at the Cebu City Council.

The proposed ordinance penalizes violators with a P1,000 fine or a jail sentence of not more than one month for the first offense, P3,000 or a two-month jail sentence for the second offense and P5,000 and a three-month jail term on the third offense.

The proposed ordinance repeals City Ordinance 465 of 1964 which requires the use of a silencer or muffler for all motor vehicles with exhaust pipes creating “loud and deafening blasts.”

“There is a need to revisit City Ordinance 465 to make it more attuned to the advances in technology and contemporary practices of motorists,” Cabarrubias said in his proposed ordinance.

He said motor vehicles are originally equipped with silencers or mufflers for anti-noise pollution reasons but are sometimes modified by owners “to boost the sound generated by the exhaust pipes.”

But aside from removing and modifying the mufflers, the proposed ordinance also limits the level of noise a motor vehicles can generate.

Even if not modified, any person is prohibited to use or operate any motor vehicle that emits noise higher than 84 decibels.

Cabarrubias said City Ordinance 309 or the Anti-Noise Ordinance makes it unlawful for “any person to willfully cause loud and deafening blast of engines of motor vehicles among others” between 7 p.m and 5 a.m the next day. But the ordinance won’t apply to events like race competitions. Correspondent Jose Santino Bunachita