Tandag

Surigao del Sur, Philippines

 

A travellers tale of the noise

pollution prevailing in this small town.

 

By Mark Buckner

On a previous visit I was already very disturbed by an  karaoke establishment  placed right in the middle of an residential  area , producing a permanent stream of laud noise until late at night.  It was really bad , the noise was so laud that the walls of the place I staying where vibrating, children could not sleep, some residents even moved away to escape the noise. Anyway the good news I got was that this establishment has disappear but the bad news was that there is a coin operated karaoke machine near by making noise late at night. Anyway at this time (about 6 pm) it was quiet.

 

Day 1

All went well so far until about 2 am when I almost fell out of bed. Suddenly an extreme laud music appeared

accompanied by an untalented singer. This went on for 2 hours and than stopped at 4 am. 

Later during the day I walked around the neighbourhood to have a look at this noise making machine and found it near by together with  it's operator which I engaged in some conversation. Apparently the noise was produced by an employee of a store near by who got there early and did not want to fall asleep  (and woke up anyone in a half mile radius in the process, but this did not bother him) Anyway the operator of this machine promised to switch it off at 10 pm next night.

Day 2

Indeed at 10 pm sharp the music stopped which was until than somehow bearable because the operator had  turned down the volume a bit.   Looking forward to good night sleep was a mistake. At about 5 min past 10 pm

virtually  “hell broke loose”  Extreme laud noise came out from a near by establishment. Not karaoke this time but music played at full volume . To make matter worse the sound equipment was somehow faulty and could not

handle the full volume very well.  Apparently some party

was going on and on. After midnight it became

Unbearable and I decided to leave the area and check

In to some hotel but unfortunately there where a

number of events in town and all the hotels where

full. So I spend the rest of the night sleeping on the

back seat of my car in a quiet area. Later I was told

the noise went on until early morning. 

 

Day 3

 

Enough is enough so I decided to give the town a miss             The noise came from this direction

and went to a lovely beach about 35 km away . Here I

checked in to a local beach resort and naturally enquired first if there are any open air karaoke's or other noise

producing establishments in the vicinity. Was told no noise at the resort but they had no control over outside areas.

Not so happy about this response, anyway it was quiet at the time. To my horror later another karaoke nearby started blaring but “thanks haven”   There was a total power failure lasting  all night so finally peace and

tranquillity prevailed all night. That the air-condition was out did not bother me.

 

 

Day 4

Due to prior commitments back in town. Nothing serious happen so far besides the permanently barking and crying dogs in the neighbourhood.  Dog owners keep the dogs on a short leach so naturally the dogs are unhappy. To let the dogs run around freely is not advisable since they would run the risk of being killed and eaten.

 

Day 5

Beach day. Tandag beach  is not particularly

renowned for natural beauty. The surrounding view  is great  but the beach itself  not fantastic. Nevertheless about half of Tandags population seems to hang out here on weekends . The problem again is Karaoke. There are several established venues in the area and to make matters worse visitors tent to hire out portable

 karaoke machines delivered straight to the huts where they are partying.

 

It's like attending an open air concert but all the

musicians are performing at the same time 

Open  karaoke alley

Happy party. The portable Karaoke machine  in the background

There are actually law's and regulation in force dealing with noise pollution but it appears they are not

followed . Of particular interest should be a Presidential decree. Noise polluters are also

successfully prosecuted in other parts of the country.  Unfortunately this does not seem to work in Tandag.

I was told it is useless and not advisable to call the police or likewise better not to talk to the noise producing neighbours.

As a  encouraging  sign I was told the story of an lawyer living on the outskirts of town when suddenly an open air Karaoke started making noise next door but he was able to put an end to it “ quick smart” by legal means.

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