Council mulls control of drone flights in GenSan 

GENERAL SANTOS CITY --- The military supports a plan by the Sangguniang Panglungsod to regulate the use here of drones via an ordinance restricting the use of such devices without permission.  

Radio reports on Monday said the city council shall facilitate a joint legislative-executive conference to talk about a proposed ordinance that shall disallow the use of surveillance drones anywhere in the city without prior clearance.

The measure shall cover unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), remotely piloted aerial units (RPAU) and remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS) that can be used for documentation and surveillance.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said Monday the proposed measure will complement the anti-terror and anti-crime missions of the military-led Task Force GenSan.

“We will support the drafting of that proposed ordinance,” Uy said.

Residents of General Santos City are no strangers to violence, having witnessed in recent years deadly bombings by terror groups from nearby provinces that are operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Members of the city council were reported as also in favor of having an ordinance that would limit, for security reasons, the use of drones in all barangays in General Santos City.