Marikina to sue drone firm for inverted Palaro flag

MANILA, Philippines — The city government of Marikina is planning to sue a drone systems provider for displaying an inverted Philippine flag in a drone show during the closing ceremony of the 63rd Palarong Pambansa on Saturday night.

The city government, led by Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, said in a statement yesterday that it condemned the incident and “plans to sue DroneTech Philippines to determine the legal liabilities and the corresponding penalties and fines.”

The drone show displayed the Philippine flag with the red field above the blue field, which indicates the country is at war.

DroneTech issued a public apology for the “grave error,” clarifying that the drone show programming was supposed to have undergone a test run, but “this was not successfully done due to severe weather conditions and signal interference in the area for several nights.”

The drone systems provider said the mistake was unintentional and the firm has no malicious intent toward anyone.

This year’s Palarong Pambansa is the first Palaro held since 2019, with over 9,000 athletes competing in 34 sports.