Senate Office of the Soccretary TWENTIETH CONGRESS REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES } First Regular Session } 26 MAY -4 P4:12 SENATE SENATE BILL No. 2087 RECEIVED BY: INTRODUCED BY SENATOR VICENTE C. SOTTO III AN ACT PROHIBITING THE OPERATION OF DRONES WITHIN 100 METER- RADIUS FROM JAIL FACILITIES, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES EXPLANATORY NOTE The law must keep up with the change of times. With our technology developing at a lightning speed, we must ensure that our laws, particularly on peace and security, can answer to the needs of the people. The rise of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), most commonly known as drones, brought about both solutions and problems to our society. It gave us a new view of things, both literally and figuratively. Drones became practical solutions to certain issues such as logistics, monitoring, weather observation, among others. However, it was also utilized for illegal activities, even in our jails. In 2022, several news articles came out regarding the use of drones to bring contrabands in jails such as illegal drugs. However, as early as 2020, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAs) and UAVs. 1 Further, only local legislations are in place to regulate drones and prohibit them within the vicinity of jail facilities. The law must keep up with the development of technology in combatting crime while upholding the rights, especially to privacy, of those accused of and are convicted of crimes. As such, support for this measure is earnestly sought from our colleagues. VICENTE C. SOTTO III 1 DETECTION, PREVENTION, AND HANDLING OF REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS OR UNMANNED AERIAL REMOTELY VEHICLES (PRESCRIBES THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE ON DETECTION, PREVENTION, AND HANDLING OF PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS OR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES) https://drive.google.com/file/d/17FOQ9fwLS7izqfwk4sG9ggu0vHySbRR9/view
Senate TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE Office of the Secretarp REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES } First Regular Session 26 MAY -4 P4:13 SENATE 208'7 S.B. No. _ RECEIVED BY: INTRODUCED BY SENATOR VICENTE C. SOTTO III AN ACT PROHIBITING THE OPERATION OF DRONES WITHIN 100 METER- RADIUS FROM JAIL FACILITIES, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the "Jail No-
Drone Zone Act."
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State to maintain
peace and order and to protect life, liberty, and property in the promotion of the general welfare. Pursuant to this, the State shall enact a law that prohibits or regulates the operation of drones within the vicinity of jail facility to maintain the level of security and stability of its operation towards the enhancement of public safety.
SEC 3. Definition of Terms. For the purposes of this act, the following
terms shall be understood as follows: a. CAAP - Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; b. Commercial Drone Use - any use of a drone in connection with a business or profession for the sake of profit, whether the profit is the primary purposes of merely an incidental result of the drone use; c. Congested Area - a city, town or settlement, or open-air assembly of people; d. Hobbyist Drone Use - the use of drones for recreational purposes where no profit is made from drone use; e. Jail Facility - a place for the confinement of Person Deprived of Liberty (PDL) which includes people accused or convicted of a crime;
f. Private Persons - natural or juridical persons not employed by or a part of the Government of the Philippines; g. Prohibited Airspace - airspace of defined dimensions identified by an area on the surface of the Earth in which flight of aircraft is prohibited or any such areas established for security or other reasons associated with the national welfare; h. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) - includes a UAV, a ground- based controller, and a system of communications between the two; i. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - commonly known as drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard, which is a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS); may operate with various degrees of autonomy either under remote control by a human operator or autonomous by onboard computers;
SEC. 4. Prohibited Act. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate
UAVs or other similar aerial vehicles, whether for commercial, hobbyist, or for any other purposes, within 100 meter-radius from jail facilities, except in emergency cases where the CAAP issued a permit to operate with the consent of the Jail Authority or for custodial security purposes of the jail facility.
SEC. 5. Penalties. Any person found guilty of violating the provision
on the prohibited act shall pay a fine of not less than fifty thousand (Php50,000) but not more than Two Hundred Thousand (Php200,000) and / or imprisonment of one (1) year.
SEC. 6. Forfeitures. The confiscated drone shall, within fifteen (15)
days upon the termination of the case, be turned over to the CAAP for proper disposal in accordance with the CAAP governing rules or policy.
SEC. 7. Notice of No-Drone Zone. The CAAP shall periodically update
and publish safety regulations and restrictions of drone usage to include the prohibition of drone operation within any jail vicinity pursuant to this Act. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Bureau of Corrections, and the Correctional Institute for Women, and other Jail Authority shall cause the posting of the sign of "No Drone-Zone Within 100 Meters from Jail Facility," conspicuously outside of the respective jail facility within their jurisdiction.
SEC. 8. Separability Clause. If any provision or part of this Act is
held unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.
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SEC. 8. Separability Clause. If any provision or part of this Act is
held unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.
SEC. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Department of
Justice, though the Bureau of Corrections and the Correctional Institute for 6 Women, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, through 7 the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, in coordination with CAAP, 8 shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate the rules and regulations necessary for the effective implementation of this Act.
SEC. 16. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive
orders, letters of instructions, administrative orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
SEC. 18. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Approved,