Mayor Andres Lacson shows members of CAMI a replica of one of two drones to be used in his town next year. Photo by Ding Cervantes
CONCEPCION, Tarlac – This town will be the first in the country to have drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to monitor from the air local peace and order and threats from natural disasters.
“We will even beat the police in using drones,” Mayor Andres Lacson told visiting journalist- members of the Capampangans in Media, Inc. (CAMI) led by the Star’s Federico Pascual. Lacson initiated early in his term the use of modern equipment, such as closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) installed along this town’s main roads as a measure against criminality.
More sophisticated drones are used by the US military in hitting Islamic States extremists in Syria. In other parts of the world, UAV’s are not being eyed for commercial purposes, although some sectors have expressed fears drones would invade privacies.
Only last Friday, a 12-year-old boy who was kidnapped in this town was rescued within 24 hours by the police in Samal, Bataan after probers examined the videos recorded by the CCTV system installed here.
Lacson said at least two drones are being purchased by the local government, costing a total of about P250,000. At the town plaza, he showed CAMI members a replica of the AUV which flew over the area.
He said that the drones are equipped with cameras that relay images to a monitoring system in the town hall. Their batteries can last half an hour and that they were built to fly back to headquarters before their batteries drain.
“Local businessmen can buy cards that could link up with the UAV’s which would then fly to their establishments for monitoring,” he added. Lacson said “the drones are important not only to track down criminals, but also to monitor approaching floods at the Parua and Loong rivers which affect some 200 hectares of agricultural lands.”
He said the drones would be operational by early next year, although he could not immediately say where the UAV’s were made.
