‘Bora-bora’ on motorbikes too noisy, violates ordinance

A  lawyer and anti-noise pollution advocate is asking the Cebu city government and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to go after   motorcycles that use  modified mufflers or  bora-bora.

The modified feature of intensifies the engine’s sound to an annoying, even harmful  degree, she said.

In her letter to Mayor Michael Rama,  lawyer June Marianne Ediza said  the noise levels generated by motorcycles with modified mufflers has worsened.

“I would like to also inquire if Cebu City has been faithfully implementing the anti-modified muffler ordinance of 2013 given the proliferation of the use of modified mufflers especially in the mountain barangays of Cebu City,” she wrote.

City Ordinance (CO) 2411 or the Anti-Muffler Modification Ordinance, authored by Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias penalizes motorcycle drivers with noisy mufflers.

A fine of P1,000 will be imposed for the first offense, P2,000 on the second violation and P5,000 for the third violation.

Later violations will be meted  a P5,000 fine or one to three  months  imprisonment or both at the discretion of the court.

Two years after the ordinance  was approved, traffic authorities haven’t enforced it.

Joy Tumulak, head of the Cebu City Traffic Office Operations head, in an interview said he could not recall  if they had  caught any violators.

Lhojie Bolotano, a resident in barangay Mabolo who uses a modified muffler, said that if a crackdown starts,  law enforcers must also go after distributors of the mufflers, and not just  drivers.

Bolotano said he used a modified muffler so the loud sound would  warn pedestrians as he passes by, especially at night when people are less careful about  crossing the street.

But Ediza, in her letter complaint,  said noise pollution has adverse effects on adults and children who are in houses, schools, place of worship and workplaces  located along the road.

Ediza also wrote the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 about the problem.

In her letter to LTO-7 Regional Director Arnel Tancinco, she asked about  enforcement of Republic Act 8749 and its provision  provision “regulating and controlling emissions of unwanted sound of a known source passed into the atmosphere.”

She said 50 percent of  motorcycles have been using  modified mufflers that disturb the public.

Ediza asked LTO-7 to monitor motorcycles with noisy mufflers that ply the city’s streets and to apprehend  their drivers and owners.

Silencers or mufflers are originally installed in motorcycles to keep the noise level down but some owners modify them to increased the sound from the exhaust pipes.