Manila City to ban loud mufflers with Ordinance no. 8145

A recent announcement by the Manila City government, Ordinance no. 8145, seeks to regulate the use of “modified muffler/exhaust pipe and similar devices on all types of motor vehicles.” The ordinance was approved on its third and final reading and seeks to limit the amount of “excessive, loud, and unreasonable noise in the City of Manila.”

City Councilor, Joel T. Villanueva announced that the “Anti-Muffler Ordinance” was filed and submitted following numerous complaints from residents in the municipality. Chief of the complaints filed was from vehicles with loud exhaust noises that were disturbing the peace and bothering residents. 

As for the ordinance’s scope, if a vehicle’s exhaust is excessively loud, the driver of the said vehicle will be fined accordingly. Modification to an exhaust system that contributes to more noise includes the removal of a catalytic converter, straight piping or removal of all muffling and baffling elements on an exhaust system, and muffler replacement or modification. 

Penalties and fines are as follows: 

• 1st offense - P1,000 and removal of modified muffler or exhaust pipe
• 2nd offense - P2,000 and removal of modified muffler or exhaust pipe
• 3rd offense - P5,000 and removal of modified muffler or exhaust pipe

Details and guidelines for this ordinance have yet to be released, as are the guidelines on how it will be implemented. Traditionally, enforcers use a decibel meter or a similar device to check for the noise level of an exhaust system, such is the case with motorcycles with modified systems. 

Mayor Isko Moreno will still have to sign the Ordinance first before it will be officially implemented. However, sufficient implementing rules and regulations have yet to follow or be announced by the city government. Residents are likely to support, but car owners who’ve modified their mufflers must tread carefully as to not get fined and have their systems uninstalled.