Pimentel files bill to regulate drones

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III has sought congressional approval of his bill seeking to penalize private individuals who are not authorized to own and operate drones either for recreational purposes or for commercial use.

“The same drones that are used for recreational and commercial purposes might be exploited by terrorists, used to violate rights, or could pose a hazard to aircraft,” Pimentel explained.

The former Senate President’s Senate Bill (SB) 1098 regulates only drones purchased, owned and operated by private persons, whether used for hobby or commercial purposes, and does not cover use of drones by the government

Pimentel said that, over the last two decades, drones have been used for photography, to increase crop production, in commercial use and to conduct surveillance and law enforcement operations.

Just recently, United Parcel Service (UPS), an American multinational package delivery and supply chain management, was granted approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a “drone airline.”

“With this ubiquity comes the need for regulation,” Pimentel explained in filing SB 1098, or an “Act Regulating the ownership and Operation of Drones by Private Persons.”

The senator cited the drone attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that struck two key oil installations inside Saudi Arabia, damaging facilities that process the vast majority of the country’s crude output and raising the risk of a disruption in world oil supplies.