BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The city government has launched a crackdown on stores selling or installing illegally modified vehicle mufflers.
Several have already been ordered to explain why they should not be closed for violating the Anti-Modified Mufflers Ordinance, said Mayor Jerry Treñas.
An inspection team from city hall has started checking shops.
Treñas also said the city government plans to buy additional decibel meters that law enforcers will use to catch motor vehicles with modified mufflers.
Enacted on May 24, 2023, Ordinance 2017-087 prohibits the sale, installation, and use of modified mufflers that “create excessive and irritating sound beyond 99 decibels, taken at an engine speed of 2, 000 to 2,500 rpm.”
The only exception is motor vehicles intended for use in sports competitions and motor shows, and motorcycles with displacement of 400cc and above.
Sellers and installers of modified mufflers risk having their business permits revoked.
Personnel from the Business and Permit Division of city hall will continue monitoring the operations of shops selling or installing modified mufflers.
Violators will be fined P1, 000 for the first offense; P2,000 for the second offense; and P5,000 for the third offense, and removal of modified mufflers.
Apart from fines, the violators’ driver’s licenses will also be confiscated.
There’s also a possibility of imprisonment from three months and one day to six months, depending on the court’s ruling.
Violators who refuse to stop when flagged will be fined an additional P1,000 for the first and second offenses.
The same penalty will be imposed against those who “stopped but deliberately and arrogantly refused to cooperate” with law enforcers.
Violators are given 72 hours to pay the penalty with the City Treasurer’s Office and attend an orientation on the ordinance to be conducted by the City Legal Office and Public Safety Traffic and Management Office (PSTMO).
Violators are required to attend such orientation before the release of their driver’s license.
Copies of the violators’ driver’s licenses will also be forwarded to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Region-6 for their “guidance and reference.”
“The noise pollution on our streets can already be annoying as it is, and it can even get more disrupting and irritating when loud sounds coming from the mufflers of the motor vehicles are added to the mix,” the ordinance read.
The mayor recently declared ‘war’ on modified or unauthorized mufflers and ordered law enforcement units to conduct checkpoints on major streets and apprehend violators.
The confiscated modified mufflers will be crushed in public using a road roller-compactor, said Jeck Conlu, head of Iloilo City’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office./PN
