House Deputy Majority Leader Luigi Villafuerte has backed plans by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to use drones to beef up maritime patrol in the government’s operations against smuggling and other illicit activities in forested and coastal villages.
Villafuerte said this police plan, as broached by PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. himself, is aligned with his proposed legislation for the military and police to beef up their defense capabilities by institutionalizing the annual acquisition of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and the eventual manufacture of our own drones.
“I am hoping that this PNP plan serves as an impetus for the House and the Senate to consider the timely approval of the bill setting aside an initial P10 billion for the establishment of the Philippine Unmanned Aerial System Program (PUASP) and Strategic Defense Technology Transfer Program (SDTTP),” Villafuerte said.
The Camarines Sur (CamSur) lawmaker is the author of HB 1362, which wants the government to set up the PUASP and SDTTP for “the acquisition of surveillance, reconnaissance, combat, disaster-response and medical evacuation (medevac) drones, and the establishment of an R&D (research and development) program to enable the Philippines to build its own UAS ecosystem in the long run.”
“Our military, defense and police establishments should have the wherewithal to acquire, deploy and integrate—and later on build our own— UAVs or drones.”
HB 1362 provides for “an initial P10 billion for acquiring and, later on, building our own drones not only for fighting terrorism, insurgency and other crimes, but also for disaster response, environmental protection, and border patrol and search-and-rescue missions,” he said.
Villafuerte said that Nartatez had pointed to the importance of new technology in modern law enforcement operations, as the PNP chief credited the recent confiscation of over P300 million-worth of marijuana at the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) by using drones in the police’s surveillance operations in the rugged and otherwise inaccessible areas of this mountainous region in Northern Luzon.
“As we are moving toward the use of modern technology in our operations, the PNP is considering the use of drones in all our police operations,” Nartatez was quoted as saying in media reports.
“The use of drones, coupled with good intelligence gathering, can greatly help in patrolling our maritime borders and in conducting other law enforcement activities,” Nartatez added.
Aside from intercepting contraband, Nartatez said that drones can assist police personnel in monitoring vast coastal waters that are used by smugglers and other criminal groups in the cross-border transport of their contraband.
Villafuerte earlier cited President Marcos for his renewed commitment to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and PNP, as he expressed the hope that our Commander-in-Chief would back his twin proposals for the allocation of a combined P15 billion for UAS systems or drones and the rehabilitation of the AFP’s old yet still operational aircraft.
Aside from HB 1362 on the acquisition plus subsequent manufacture of drones, Villafuerte also authored HB 1363 as the second of twin measures for the long-term buildup of the defense and law enforcement capabilities of the AFP and PNP.
HB 1363 proposes the creation by the Department of National Defense (DND) of a Military Air Asset Rehabilitation Program (MAARP) to conduct technical inspection and feasibility analysis of old helicopters and other available military aircraft for possible recommissioning; and to conduct, with the AFP, a full inventory of all decommissioned aircraft in military storage nationwide.
It allocates an initial amount of P5 billion for this recommissioning program, to be sourced from the unprogrammed funds of the national budget or other available funding sources.
Otherwise known as the “National Defense Drone Act,” HB 1362 seeks the establishment of the PUASP to oversee the acquisition of drones, deployment of such unmanned vehicles, inter-agency usage protocols, data security compliance and training of drone operators and technicians.
By way of the PUASP, Villafuerte likewise wants the military to pursue R&D activities with local universities and colleges as well as tech start-ups to spur the local manufacture and maintenance of drones.
Also, HB 1362 proposes the establishment of the SDTTP, as a complement to the PUASP, to provide tax incentives to the private sector to engage in drone development, as a way to encourage local innovation and reduce long-term costs for this drone acquisition program.
Drones are unmanned aircraft that are operated remotely by pilots from a well calculated distance to oversee a wide range of landscape, seascape, riverscape and cityscape, amongst others, for purposes of aerial photography and aerial videography, surveillance and security, search and rescue, delivery of goods and services, monitoring of climate change and other environmental changes, and military operations.
Villafuerte recalled that last year, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Nartatez separately cited the need for the tech-driven modernization of the AFP and PNP, including the acquisition—and eventual development of our own—airborne and land-based drone and counter-drone systems.
“Our military, defense and police establishments should have the wherewithal to acquire, deploy and integrate—and later on build our own— UAVs or drones, to strengthen the combat, surveillance, medivac, patrol and disaster response, among others, of our military and police forces,” said Villafuerte.
Meanwhile, HB 1363, or the “Military Air Asset Rehabilitation and Modernization Act,” tasks the DND to initiate a Military Air Asset Rehabilitation Program (MAARP) to conduct technical inspection and feasibility analysis of available aircraft for possible recommissioning, and conduct, with the AFP, a full inventory of all decommissioned aircraft in military storage nationwide, within 90 days from the effectivity of this Act.
According to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the average lifespan of an aircraft is around 25 to 40 years, depending on the kind of aircraft, Villafuerte said.
As a cost-effective strategy, Villafuerte said, “HB 1363 aims to recommission old yet operational aircrafts to meet the military’s operational demands without compromising our major capital outlay.”
“Considering the current issue on the West Philippine Sea, recommissioning decommissioned aircrafts will help increase our military and territorial presence in the contested Philippine waters and better prepare our AFP for future and possible military operations,” he said.
