Guidelines on use of drones in land surveys released

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued guidelines on the use of drones in the conduct of land survey.

The development of the guidelines was consistent with the existing policies of the DENR in improving the surveying and mapping practices using the most appropriate modern techniques and technologies.

The DENR’s Land Management Bureau issued Memorandum Circular No. 2017-003, which recognizes unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone as one of the instruments that may be used in land survey. It took effect last Jan. 26.

Drones, in addition to traditional survey instruments, can be used to survey and map large areas within a shorter period. It can provide graphical presentation and more accurate information on land parcels through high-resolution aerial photos while still meeting the government’s accuracy standards.

According to LMB director Emelyne Talabis, the use of drones upgrades the conduct of land survey and mapping in the Philippines.

Drones, she said, open up the opportunity for land surveys as one of the requirements in title application to be conducted in a more time-efficient and cost-effective manner that can lead to an increased number of titles issued per year.

“Technology is going to be continuously updated in the future such as the possibility of our country’s satellite in space. We can dare to dream, and we must continuously adapt as time changes,” Talabis said.

The drafting and conduct of related activities in the development of the guidelines were made possible with the assistance of the Technology for Property Rights project of the Foundation for Economic Freedom and The Asia Foundation.

The project aims to scale up land titling by promoting policies, partnerships and technologies.