While President Benigno Aquino III prides his administration on being “wang-wang”-free, not all Filipino motorists share his willingness to avoid noisemakers.
Lawyer June Marianne Ediza went to the regional Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) to complain about the use of “bora-bora” mufflers by motorcycle riders in Metro Cebu’s streets.
Two laws prohibit the sale and use of noisy mufflers — a provision of Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act on “regulating and controlling emissions of unwanted sound of a known source passed into the atmosphere” and Cebu City Ordinance 2411 or the Anti-Muffler Modification Ordinance which penalizes motorcycle riders who modify their mufflers by removing the silencers.
Maybe it’s a macho thing, the need to go vroom-vroom as loudly as possible, to stake you presence as king of the road.
The ego-tripping is misplaced. The sound beyond decent decibels is plain pollution.
Motorcycle rider Lhojie Botolano of barangay Mabolo, Cebu City, told Cebu Daily News that he uses a modified muffler to give warning ahead to pedestrians crossing the street. This will avoid an accidental collision, he said.
Here’s a better maneuver: Be a courteous, defensive driver and slow down, when pedestrians are in sight.
“Bora-bora” mufflers are installed for self-importance, not safety.
It goes with the “bigger is better” mindset.
The loudness is better paired with the honking of car horns on New Year’s Eve.
So why are traffic and transportation authorities helpless in enforcing a national law and a city ordinance?
Joy Tumulak, operations chief of the Cebu City Transportation Office, frankly admitted that he cant recall any arrest of a violator of this city ordinance.
What will it take to get the CCTO and the city police to get moving? A survey with data on the number of swollen ear drums, cranky residents and raised tempers?
We shouldn’t need a “noise pollution advocate” to file a complaint to insist that all Cebuanos deserve some peace and quiet in the din of an urban jungle.
People aren’t asking for sanctuary silence, just reasonable air space free of heart-pumping booming engine sounds.
Catching noisy habal-habal drivers in the upland barangays has been set as the immediate response.
After a week, if motorbike riders don’t adjust their mufflers, arrests are supposed to follow.
Let’s see what happens.
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