Solon files bill to ban videoke, loud entertainment equipment after 10 p.m.

A representative from Quezon Province has filed a bill seeking to ban the use of videoke, karaoke, and similar equipment after 10 p.m.

Quezon Province Fourth District Rep. Angelina Tan filed House Bill 1035, which prohibits the use of karaoke, videoke, and "other sound amplifying equipment" within residential areas.

The bill allows such equipment to be used only from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. This also covers "any radio, CD player, television set, amplified musical instrument, drums, [and] loudspeaker."

Operating these "in such manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from the place in which it is located" will be considered a violation.

Violators will face a fine of P1,000 or imprisonment for not more than six months. If the violator is a business establishment, its license to operate shall be revoked after successive offenses.

In the bill's explanatory note, Tan said this is to specifically address the pronouncement made by President Rodrigo Duterte on the matter.

In May, Duterte said a 10 p.m. ban on videoke or karaoke singing must be imposed around the country, similar to the practice they have in Davao City.

"You disturb the neighborhood," the President said in a press conference last May 16, noting that many Filipinos work long hours and are usually tired by the time they get home.

"Ganu'n ang buhay ng Pilipino, 90 percent ng mga tao. So at 10 o'clock, you stop that... Let the children sleep in the neighborhood. 'Wag mong pahirapan ang Pilipino. Masyadong hirap na," he said. — Tina Panganiban-Perez and Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/VVP, GMA News