EDITORIAL - Anti-noise ordinance

We have all been in this situation; we are reveling in the peace and quiet of our neighborhood when suddenly someone nearby opens up with ear-splitting music, disturbing the peace.

Sometime this happens during the day but sometimes also at the unholiest ours of the night. It’s either they blast loud music or, worse, sing karaoke at the top of their lungs.

Violators aren’t limited to neighbors in private residences. Many establishments also go beyond the hours allowed for noise or loud music.

Apparently, this has been happening so often recently that Cebu City Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he has been flooded with complaints from work-from-home employees and students attending online classes. So much so that he has pushed for the passage of an anti-noise ordinance and strongly urged barangay officials to take the lead in its enforcement.

Sure, we need such an ordinance. Those who make too much noise at the wrong times shouldn’t be allowed to do so.

But, actually, there already exists an anti-noise ordinance for the city; City Ordinance No. 2606, authored by then councilor Raymond Garcia and Councilor David Tumulak, and approved by former mayor Edgardo Labella on February 16, 2021. However, that fact that we don’t see many violators being reminded of it, let alone being fined or jailed for it, means enforcement is weak.

And it may just be for the exact same reason that Osmeña points out; barangay officials are reluctant to enforce an anti-noise ordinance because that would mean ruining the good time of or antagonizing their own neighbors or even their relatives. It may even be that some barangay officials like to indulge in a little loud music every once in a while.

So what should change? Osmeña proposes that barangay officials who fail to enforce the ordinance would themselves be held accountable.

“I’m telling the barangay officials—you will pay a price if you don’t cooperate, and I’m willing to stick my neck out… Bahala na. I don’t care, because my priority is not the captain, not the political, not even BOPK—it’s what’s good for the city,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña wants to set a public hearing for his proposed ordinance to iron out a few kinks and set boundaries, perhaps even to harmonize it with the already-existing one. Let’s see what that public hearing will produce.