January 19, 2023
Dear Harry King Avenido,
Greetings!
Thank you for your request dated Jan 18, 2023 01:30:44 PM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch.
Your Request
You asked for Drone regulations.
Response to Request
Your FOI request is approved.
Dear Mr/Ms H. Avenido,
Thank you for your recent inquiry about the existing drone regulations in the Philippines.
As a background, the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) or drones as commonly known, are generally regulated by two aviation authorities in the Philippines namely, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The CAAP was created pursuant to Republic Act No. 9497 otherwise known as the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008 and whose primary mandate involves the regulation of the TECHNICAL ASPECT of civil aviation such as but not limited to aircraft registration, pilot licensing, trainings etc. On the other hand, the CAB was created pursuant to Republic Act No. 776 otherwise known as the Civil Aeronautics Act of the Philippines, which gave the CAB the power to regulate the ECONOMIC ASPECT of civil aviation.
Given the foregoing, RPA regulations pertaining to registration, licensing, flight limitations, trainings and certification may be properly addressed by the CAAP considering that it is the latter which has the technical capabilities to answer most of your query. Nevertheless, should a CAAP registered RPA operator be one who is engaged in or at least planning to engage in commercial operations using RPAs, then the CAB may exercise its power to regulate said activity. In this regard, the applicable regulation will be CAB Economic Regulation No. 10 entitled “Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operators for Commercial Purposes”. The said regulation provides for the requirements for the issuance of Certificate Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to operate RPA for commercial purposes as well as the list of terms, conditions and limitations attached thereto.
We hope this answers your query.
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Your right to request a review
If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response by writing to Extyn I. Nacubuan at
[email protected]. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made within 15 calendar days from the date when you received this letter. We will complete the review and tell you the result within 30 calendar days from the date when we receive your review request.
If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Office of the President under Administrative Order No. 22 (s. 2011).
Thank you.
Respectfully,
CARMELO ARCILLA
FOI Receiving Officer
