Valenzuela City intensifies anti-loud pipe enforcement

Bora-bora no more

For motorcycle riders in Metro Manila who want a weekend getaway somewhere north, the most common route is through the McArthur Highway that starts in Caloocan, that is if you're riding a non-tollways legal bike. Passing through the City of Valenzuela is inevitable. Unfortunately, if your ride has a noisy muffler attached, an Ordinance Violation Receipt (OVR) may also be inevitable.

The City Government of Valenzuela, through its Traffic Management Office, intensified its city-wide muffler sound level test on September 2, 2019 as part of the implementation of the City Ordinance No. 342, Series of 2017, as amended by Ordinance No. 390, Series of 2017, also known as, the Motorcycle Noise Regulation Ordinance of Valenzuela City, according to the city's Public Information Office (PIO).

Valenzuela will determine the noise level objectively. Traffic enforcers around the city are equipped with standard decibel meters to measure how loud a motorcycle exhaust pipe is. Also, according to the city's PIO, “Owners of motorcycles which produce sound of more than 90 decibels on a quarter-turn of its acceleration [throttle] and more than 100 decibels on a throttle shall be apprehended with fines starting at PhP 300 for the 1st offense and possible impounding if found with multiple violations.”

The City of Valenzuela also boasts that since they've started implementing the Ordinance No. 342 in 2017, there are already close to 2,000 Ordinance Violation Receipts that have been issued to individuals who failed the city's sound level test.