NCRPO won’t use drones for profiling, red-tagging during SONA

MANILA, Philippines — The drones equipped with facial recognition capabilities that will be deployed during President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month will not be used for profiling and red-tagging.

National Capital Region Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo yesterday gave this assurance to the public, saying that these drones, which can provide aerial views and real-time information on the ground, will only be used for immediate situation assessment and deployment purposes in and out of the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City where the SONA will be held.

With facial recognition capability, the drones can scan participants of the annual event – where rallies and demonstrations can be expected – and alert authorities if there is someone with standing warrant of arrest among them.

He said the police force will deploy two of the drones during SONA and the personnel manning its mobile bus command center will immediately receive the data these will gather during the event.

There will also be “alert teams” that will take action should the drone find any person with standing warrant of arrest at the SONA.

Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. earlier said no security threats have so far been monitored related to the President’s SONA.