House Deputy Majority Leader Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luigi Villafuerte is championing the Philippine National Police's (PNP) plan to tap drones in its anti-smuggling and other anti-crime operations within forested and coastal villages.

Villafuerte said this pitch, which came from PNP Chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. himself, was 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 local manufacturing of such 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 in a recent statement.

The Bicolano earlier authored and filed in the ongoing 20th Congress House Bill (HB) No.1362, which called on 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".

Under the measure, “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."

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,” he 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.

Aside from HB No.1362 on the acquisition plus subsequent manufacture of drones, Villafuerte also authored HB No.1363 for the long-term build-up of the defense and law enforcement capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and PNP.

HB No.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.

Villafuerte earlier cited President Marcos for his renewed commitment to modernize the AFP and PNP, as he expressed hope that the 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.