PNP to get weapons donation from China: Lorenzana

(From left) Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año inspect the second batch of assault rifles donated by the Chinese government in a handover ceremony on Thursday, 05 October 2017 at the Canopy Area of the General Headquarters here. The AFP through the Department of National Defense receives 3,000 units of assault rifles with 3-million rounds of ammunition; and 90 scopes for the sniper rifles that were part of the first batch of weapons turned over in June this year. (Photo by SN1 Donald Viluan PN/PAOAFP)

MANILA — Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday said all of the M-4 assault rifles donated by the People’s Republic of China (PROC), will be turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for their ongoing campaign against hard drugs, terrorism, and counter-insurgency.

The weapons, except the sniper scopes, will be immediately handed over to the PNP once these pass through the military’s logistic units for recording and accounting purposes.

On Thursday, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, handed over 3,000 M-4 assault rifles, three million rounds of ammunition and 30 sniper scopes to Lorenzana during short ceremonies in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

This is the second batch of weaponry donated by the Chinese government to the Philippines. All of the items were given without any costs to the Philippines, Lorenzana said.

“According to the directive of the President, they (Chinese M-4s) will be given to the (PNP). If you remember, the PNP tried to buy 26,000 (M-4 units) from (a) dealer in the United States but it has taken them too long to deliver, so we are lucky that the Chinese government (has) provided (us) with firearms,” he said.

Lorenzana added the first batch of Chinese donated weapons, consisting of 3,000 rifles with five million rounds of bullets along with 90 sniper rifles and 800,000 round of ammunition, were handed to the PNP a few months after.

The arms shipment arrived at Clark Air Base, Angeles City, Pampanga last June 28. (PNA)

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