Heads up, motorheads! The City of Manila wants to ban loud mufflers. That’s right, an ordinance banning loud noise emitting mufflers has just passed the third reading.

Ordinance no. 8145 or the “Ordinance Regulating The Use of Modified Muffler / Exhaust Pipe and Similar Devices On All Types of Motor Vehicles Resulting to the Emission of Excessive, Loud & Unreasonable Noise in the City of Manila & Providing Penalties for Violation Thereof and For Other Purposes” is actually self-explanatory. It is written by Manila councilor Joel “JTV” Villanueva with the complaints of his fellow council members in mind, the ordinance aims to control the use of open or modified mufflers of road vehicles. 

According to the said ordinance, violators will be facing penalties and even the removal of the violating vehicle accessory. First time violators will be penalized P1000 and the removal of the modified muffler or exhaust pipe, second time violators will be penalized P3000 and the removal of the modified muffler or exhaust pipe, while third time violators will be penalized P5000 and the removal of the modified muffler or exhaust pipe.

While the main goal of the ordinance is pretty clear—to lessen the noise pollution in the city, we do have a lot of questions in mind. 

The ordinance did not state what enforcers will use to measure the volume of the mufflers and which would be considered to be tolerable and not a cause of disturbance in the city. This also caused a lot of people to be concerned over possible abuse in authority once the ordinance becomes effective.

Another main thing that was left unconsidered is the fact that mufflers and exhaust systems prevent vehicles from being loud and removing these will cause even louder noises through the straight pipe. 

Now that the ordinance is only waiting for the signature of the city mayor, we do hope that everything is clarified and every little detail is reviewed properly before this passes as a law.