An aerial photo tool for now, drones could transform disaster relief

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

AROUND a hundred drones rose up into the night sky during the final leg of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Torch Run at the Clark Freeport Zone on Nov. 23.

Getting off the ground slowly like sky lanterns in various colors, they danced and formed specific shapes such as the Philippine flag and the 11 rings from the logo of the SEA Games Federation. What people saw was a new form of sky art.

About a thousand miles away from Clark, another narrative was emerging about drones, which will soon deliver meals and other items for residents of Cagayan de Oro.

“We have a homegrown delivery app here in Cagayan de Oro. It’s called StreetBy. We are actually working together on a proof of concept for a drone delivery service,” Dan A. Pacquiao, president of Project LUPAD, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 3.

Project LUPAD (short for League of Unmanned Philippine Aerial Drones) is what resulted from Mr. Pacquiao and his teammates’ passion for flying drones.

“It started in June 2016 as a hobby. Basically, I just posted some aerial photos and videos online, and then I just kept flying every week. At some point, people started to recognize my work, and then businesses contacted me. Companies tapped me to take aerial shots for them,” Mr. Pacquiao said.

As the demand for his services started to grow, he formed a team of five sometime in 2017. Seven more members were added in 2019.

“They are editors, videographers, drone pilots, and photographers,” Mr. Pacquiao said. “We already have our business permits. It’s more of a company now.”

Today, Mr. Pacquiao’s team offers aerial tours, aerial and ground photography, 3D structural mapping, aerial cinematography, aerial surveys, emergency and calamity response and rescue, live aerial coverage, and drone pilot training, among others.

“Advertising accounts for around 40% of the company’s profit, and 60% comes from people who are hiring us for our other services like aerial shots, videos, and aerial surveys,” he said.

This new industry, he said, is growing in the Philippines but the competition is still at a “moderate” level.

“We have competitors in Manila and Cebu, but we are actually expanding right now in Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, and Manila. We have teammates there,” he said.

“We are planning to expand all over the Philippines, but we are starting in major cities for now where the demand is high.”

Mr. Pacquiao’s team has worked mostly with the tourism sector and fast food restaurant chains like Jollibee, McDonald’s, and Chowking.

Asked how drones are changing the way businesses operate in the Philippines, Mr. Pacquiao said: “I would say, especially in the media industry, most of the videos and movies are using drones to get a new perspective on locations; and also bigger companies use drones to survey their plants. So right now, drones are very useful, unlike before when most people used helicopters to get those shots. The investment is smaller compared to hiring a helicopter.”

He also noted the emerging role for drones in the global supply chain. “Probably in five to 10 years from now that will be the trend. Some companies like Amazon are already using drones to deliver some stuff,” he said.

Project LUPAD has also used drones for monitoring floods and people requiring aid during a calamity.

“Drones can also be very useful in capturing a fire location. Using drones can really be a big help because it can go as low as 10 meters or five meters unlike helicopters,” Mr. Pacquiao said.

Speaking to reporters on Dec. 3, Nokia Philippines Country Head Andrew Cope said his company and Smart Communications partnered with the Philippine Red Cross in 2018 to use LTE-connected drones in disaster-affected areas. “The results were promising,” he said.

Joachim Horn, chief information and technical advisor of PLDT, Inc. and Smart, told BusinessWorld in an interview on Nov. 30 that fifth-generation (5G) networks can improve drones’ performance.

“What 5G can do, compared to existing 4G and LTE, is that it will enable much higher-resolution videos because of the higher speed that 5G offers, which means that drones can fly a little bit higher to capture a large area; and because of the high resolution, you can still see all the details,” he said.

“It can be interesting if you have a natural disaster, just like fire which does not allow you to go so low, 5G can help the drones fly higher. That’s actually the main advantage of 5G compared to existing technologies, the high speed,” he added.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ (CAAP) drone regulations impose a 400-foot ceiling on their operations, and restrict their use within 10 kilometer of any airport reference point.

Drone operations are also restricted over schools and marketplaces. It is prohibited as well to fly drones in a controlled or prohibited airspace unless authorized by CAAP.

Night flying is also prohibited unless authorized by CAAP. Operators with drones heavier than 7kg are required to apply for a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) certificate.

The certificates issued by CAAP are RPAS controller certificate, RPAS registration certificate, RPAS operator certificate, and flight permit.

There are two kinds of drones, according to Mr. Pacquiao. “We have this so-called toy-grade drones that we can just buy at malls for kids and they have no GPS. Those are just toys. We also have drones for commercial purposes which start at P50,000. You can buy toy-grade drones at P2,000 to P5,000.

Mid-range drones, he said, start at P100,000 while industrial-grade drones start at around P200,000.

Currently, Project LUPAD has five drones. Mr. Pacquiao said his team is looking to purchase more equipment. “We need to adapt to the growing demand for our services,” he said.

“We have mid-size drones, we have small, and regular ones. For small drones, there are limitations like short battery life and the distance they can travel from the controller. For bigger drones, the advantage is they can resist winds especially when you are shooting at the beach,” he said.

“Probably five to 10 years from now, drones will become more common. I think we are going there, because nowadays drones are becoming more affordable and more of a consumer item,” he added.

Despite the increased affordability, he said Project LUPAD’s client list keeps growing.

“In 2016, I would only have one client per month. In 2017, I would get two in a month, then three. Today, we get four,” he said.