Manila’s mayor, the former actor Francisco Domagoso, banned the daytime use of “karaokes, videokes and other sound producing devices” beginning Thursday, after complaints from irate parents home-schooling their children amid the pandemic.
Mr. Domagoso said his office had received multiple calls from parents who said their children could not concentrate with the noise.
“I pity our parents and students who are trying to go through online schooling while being disturbed by karaoke noise in the background,” Mr. Domagoso, more popularly known by his movie name Isko Moreno, told The New York Times.
The sound machines have long been a blight among Manila’s tightly packed communities. The pastime, however, has gained a new popularity of late, with many taking to singing to while away the boredom of isolation.
Mr. Domagoso said that those caught violating the ordinance would be fined up to 3,000 pesos (about $61).
On Thursday, 144 people were reported to have died in the Philippines, bringing the country’s death toll to 6,069 — one of the region’s highest. More than 2,300 new cases were also reported, with the total number of cases now at 331,869, according to the Department of Health.
Much of the country has remained on lockdown, although the government has begun to gradually open up tourism and other parts of the economy.