Group urges candidates to cut on noise pollution from campaign jingles

With the campaign season nearing the homestretch, an ecological group appealed to candidates running in the May election to cut down on full-blast playing of jingles, blurbs and other noise pollution. EcoWaste Coalition lamented the laxity in regulating noise coming from what it called the frenzied political activities leading to the country’s first automated elections. “The non-stop noise from loudspeakers blurting out political jingles and blurbs in the streets and other public spaces is already infringing on the people’s right to a peaceful and tranquil environment," said Rene Pineda of the Citizens’ Organization Concerned with Advocating Philippine Environmental Sustainability and the EcoWaste Coalition, in an entry on EcoWaste’s blog site.

EcoWaste particularly urged campaigners to moderate the volume of their loudspeakers and urged politicos to voluntarily stop airing their political jingles and ads near hospitals and places of study and worship. “While we understand the need of our politicians to reach out to the electorate, it is only fair that the public should not suffer from too much noise," Pineda said. The group voiced fears the unchecked noise pollution from the competing politicos and their campaign machinery will likely worsen as May 10 draws closer. “Given that we have no specific rules under our election laws on what will constitute reasonable noise limits, we ask all candidates to be sensitive enough not to turn the loudspeakers up full blast and cause offense or annoyance. Kaunting hina naman (Turn down the volume)," Pineda stated. While the Omnibus Election Code has no provision regulating noise from political activities, there may exist local ordinances in some jurisdictions that regulate and penalize offending noise, the EcoWaste Coalition said. “The politicians, therefore, are not only violating human rights per se, but existing ordinances. They could be breaking their own ordinances versus noise pollution as no one is supposed to be exempt from the law," Pineda stressed. The group cited information from the Environmental Protection UK that noise, an “unwanted sound," can cause irritability and pressure for many people and harm the sense of hearing depending on the intensity of the noise, among other factors. UK’s Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993 makes noise in the street a statutory nuisance, providing restrictions on the use of loudspeakers in the streets and other sources of noise, the group noted. — LBG, GMANews.TV