Councilor Maria Belen Acosta hoped that the proposed drone ordinance will be passed by legislators before the conduct of the Palarong Pambansa in May this year.
“Hopefully, we will be able to pass this in time for the Palarong Pambansa. We will do our best,” said Acosta, chair of the committee on peace and public safety.
“This depends on how will the committee hearing run. We will know the sentiments of the stakeholders on the committee hearing whether many will support or object the ordinance,” she added.
Huge sports events are expected to gather many drone professionals and enthusiasts and according to Acosta, there is a need to regulate remote-controlled aircrafts, especially that “it can be used in harmful activities such as invading other person’s right to privacy by spying on neighbors, or stalking persons from afar.”
Acosta also enjoins all stakeholders in the crafting of the ordinance through the committee hearings.
“We will invite all stakeholders especially Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) because they are the ones who regulate the flying areas, the flying zones,” she said.
According to the councilor, there are already existing regulations from CAAP which regulates high-flying drones, especially professional drones for aerial survey and other professional events.
“However, we also have the hobbyists which can have either high- or low-flying drones that can be very accessible for everyone to buy,” she said.
“Those that are not registered with CAAP must be registered in the city because we cannot find out which one are for professional uses, for hobby, or even for terror use,” Acosta added.
Acosta also expressed that she is trying to “jive the schedule of all the stakeholders – the professionals, the event organizers, hobbyists, everyone.”
“If there our organized group of drone flyers, they can contact our office at 222-0855, the landline of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. They just have to connect to our office and indicate that they wish to attend the committee hearing,” she called.
