MUFFLERS DESTROYED. Open-pipe motorcycle mufflers are destroyed in Iloilo's Passi City on Thursday (Jan. 2, 2020). Passi City Mayor Stephen Palmares said on Saturday the mufflers caused disturbance among people living along Passi City roads. (Photo courtesy of Passi City LGU)
ILOILO CITY -- Some 75 open-pipe motorcycle mufflers causing noise along the roads of Iloilo’s component city of Passi were destroyed using a vibro roller on Thursday.
Passi City Mayor Stephen Palmares, who said the loud mufflers disturbed the residents especially at night, led the destruction.
Palmares bared that 60 personnel of the Traffic Management Office and Passi City Police have been mobilized since November last year to confiscate the noisy mufflers.
“My mandate is for them to confiscate the mufflers of those passing our roads,” he said in an interview Saturday, adding that those who reside outside Passi City were not spared from the confiscation.
The clamor on the loud mufflers was mostly heard from senior citizens living in the town proper.
"I have received complaints from residents and visitors from other municipalities that there are motorcycle drivers who are using these noisy mufflers," he said.
Palmares said the confiscation of mufflers will continue after the destruction. He, however, clarified that the owners would not be penalized.
“We will confiscate the muffler, and the next time they pass by with (loud) mufflers again, we will also confiscate again,” he said, assuring that they would not get tired of doing it repeatedly.
He said one muffler costs about PHP1,500 and it is up to motorcycle owners to continue buying the item that will only end up being confiscated.
In October 2016, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian filed Senate Bill 1195 or the Muffler Act of 2016, which aims to "regulate the use of mufflers, those that are missing, defective and their modifications that increases the sound emitted by motor vehicles, contributing to noise pollution, penalizing owners and drivers that contribute to the sound that exacerbates noise pollution to the environment.”
Last year, the Land Transportation Office issued a Memorandum Order to all regional heads and concerned employees to intensify the prohibition on “Bora Bora” or motorcycles with modified mufflers that cause undesirable or irritating sounds. (PNA)
