I posted this on other forum as well..Just got a reply from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for those who are wondering..This should be clear now..





            

Dear Mr. Hernandez:

This is with reference to your e-mail dated 29 June 2015 regarding inquiry for the regulations in operating a UAV for sports and recreational purposes.

The existing regulations on UAVs are applicable to large UAVs only (100kgs [rotorcraft] and above 150kgs [airplane]) and all UAVs used for commercial operations. Thus, small and private UAVs need not be registered with this Authority. If your UAV is a large UAV, the same must be registered. However, guidelines regulating small and private UAV are now being crafted and will be released by 4th quarter of this year.  

The following provisions of the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations Part 11.11 shall be observed when operating a UAV:

11.11.1.2.1 OPERATION NEAR PEOPLE

a)       Subject to paragraph (b) and (c), a person shall not operate a UAV within 30 meters of a person who is not directly associated with the operation of the UAV.

b)       Paragraph (a) does not apply in relation to a person who stands behind the UAV while it is taking off.

c)       Paragraph (a) also does not prevent the operation of a UAV airship within 30 meters of a person if the airship approaches no closer to the person than 10 meters horizontally and 30ft vertically.

11.11.1.3 UAV AREAS OF OPERATION

(a)     No person may operate UAV beyond the following envelope unless prior approval has been granted by the Authority:

(1)     400ft Above Ground Level (AGL);
(2)     10 km radius from the Aerodrome Reference Point (ARP); and

(b)     The UAV shall stay clear of populated area unless prior approval has been granted by the Authority.
(c)     No person may operate a large and small UAV in a controlled airspace unless a prior certificate of Waiver is issued by the Authority.

Such requirements are based on imminent safety and security concerns which this Authority is mandated to protect for the interest of the greater public.

The operation of a UAV may be allowed in a private open field provided that the UAV stays away from populated areas. In addition thereto, the controller of the UAV needs to acquire a UAV Controller Certificate of Authorization prior to operation of any UAV unit.

Should you have further inquiries, you may call the Regulatory Standards Department, Flight Standards Inspectorate Service, this Authority, at Tel. No.: (02) 879-9227.



Very truly yours,






SHERMAN P. DEL ROSARIO
Administrative Assistant II
Regulatory Standards Development Division
RSD - FSIS
Tel No.: (02) 879-9211

Those are pretty reasonable rules. Kudos to the CAAP

Hi Retret66,

I am planning to bring my phantom 3 to the Philippines in December for my vacation. It will be a carry on, any rules / tips on how to clear the customs.  

Thanks

(b)     The UAV shall stay clear of populated area actually means if you dont fly far away from your tourist ressort its illegal. Even if there are only some rural houses its illegal. Even if there is only one bush hut its illegal. Of course no one will follow this its rediculous. Its also unlikely you will get problems anyway if you are not flying in the city center. BUT if you crash into something then they will point on you and claim you would not have been allowed to fly there.


Unfortunately all countries will apply such laws, if you dont obey them but still fly responsible its unlikely to get problems unless you create an accident.

So if you are flying over a single bush hut your QR mounting plate busts and your Inspire falls onto this hut you will not only have to replace the hut you will also get a heavy fine for flying over populated area.

ghoonk Posted at 2015-9-16 08:51
Those are pretty reasonable rules. Kudos to the CAAP

Do you only fly over the dessert in your country? Because anything else would be prohibited if you follow such laws.

Philippines is not so strict, they know that I have a battery for a drone and they don't even ask..As a precaution I also have a permit to bring the drone to philippines but that was not necessary.. You can bring your drone to Philippines without an issue..
Edit.. You can make a copy of the letter from CAAP with you and put it inside your drone case..

Machoman Posted at 2015-10-18 19:33
Do you only fly over the dessert in your country? Because anything else would be prohibited if you ...

I also fly in the mountains and wadis (valleys). i'm not a huge fan of flying over people and stuff. If I'm unfortunate enough to have my aircraft crash, then let it be somewhere remote where it isn't likely to hurt anything or anyone.

drewji Posted at 2015-10-16 21:02
Hi Retret66,

I am planning to bring my phantom 3 to the Philippines in December for my vacation. It ...

Just was over there last Dec of 2015. Brought my P3P with 6 extra batteries and I didn't have any issues with the Customs.

Wow   I just came across this thread by accident. Am an Australian I live in the Philippines and am going to purchase a phantom 4 in August. I was so scared of the rules here but this above letter has put me at ease.

so did you get the caap license?

Thank you for the clarification I have friends who will be going there to see relatives  good to know if they bring there drones.

do CAAP have geo-mapping of no-fly zones area iin Ph?

This thread is a bit old, so I wanted to check on this as i'm getting mixed understandings of this throughout the web, go figure. Just like any other time I've looked for relevant information on PH gov sites, I couldn't find anything to read on for this or to confirm whether I need to get some kind of certificate or not. I tried the emails listed on their CAAP and they're invalid emails. This site: https://uavsystemsinternational. ... ippines-drone-laws/ says that you should require some certificate even for non-commercial use. "You must obtain a UAV Controller Certificate of Authorization prior to operation. This can be obtained by contacting the Philippines aviation authority. Contact information is posted at the bottom of this page."

I'm really unsure of what is the truth and how to proceed. I am traveling to PH with my family and would love to use the drone, but if it's a big amount of trouble we will reconsider it.

Nitrotekk Posted at 2017-4-1 19:41
This thread is a bit old, so I wanted to check on this as i'm getting mixed understandings of this throughout the web, go figure. Just like any other time I've looked for relevant information on PH gov sites, I couldn't find anything to read on for this or to confirm whether I need to get some kind of certificate or not. I tried the emails listed on their CAAP and they're invalid emails. This site: https://uavsystemsinternational. ... ippines-drone-laws/ says that you should require some certificate even for non-commercial use. "You must obtain a UAV Controller Certificate of Authorization prior to operation. This can be obtained by contacting the Philippines aviation authority. Contact information is posted at the bottom of this page."

I'm really unsure of what is the truth and how to proceed. I am traveling to PH with my family and would love to use the drone, but if it's a big amount of trouble we will reconsider it.

I think i found something here http://www.caap.gov.ph/index.php ... to-pcar-part-2-4-11 that may help.

Nitrotekk Posted at 2017-4-1 20:31
I think i found something here http://www.caap.gov.ph/index.php ... to-pcar-part-2-4-11 that may help.

Thanks buddy, I am travelling next month for 3 weeks visit. this helps

Note, if you read the regulation carefully, it only applies to commercial operations or recreational operations if the drone is heavier than 7km. Doesn't apply to recreational flights with anything smaller. So the e-mail posted earlier in the thread appears to be still valid guidance for recreational fliers.

thrash_273 Posted at 2017-4-24 11:26
Thanks buddy, I am travelling next month for 3 weeks visit. this helps

NP. I did end up bringing the drone and didn't face any trouble. TSA in the USA was the most difficult but only because of our baby foods. They didn't mind the drone. I heard them comment "it's a drone" without any concern for it. In the Philippines, we didn't face any issues.

Basically, use the best judgment and follow the restrictions and guidelines we have in the USA and definitely read their document from the CAAP site to be informed. Also, 7KG is way more than what the Mavic weighs so it doesn't fall into the commercial drone category. Not to mention they didn't even check our bags in the Philippines. Not to say they wouldn't do a check but if they did just bring a print out of the document that I shared in the link earlier. That is what we did in the case of trouble.

I've attached a PDF that was the latest at the time we left this year in 2017. It is dated before then at an earlier date but it is the latest on their site at the time. I hope this helps anyone facing our concerns in the future


Listing web site again in case anyone has missed it above in the thread: ---> CAAP Site

http://www.caap.gov.ph/

Site is currently under maintenance.
Please Email Us at information@caap.gov.ph for your inquiries.
Thank You.
Unfortunately many Filipino gov departments (and even Blue Chip companies) have terrible web presence.

Good to hear! thanks for the heads up.