PNP shows off P3B upgrade: Galils, Bell choppers, trucks
High-ranking police officials led by officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa inspects the P3 billion worth of equipment procured by the Philippine National Police. The items presented after the flag raising ceremony at Camp Crame on Monday includes five helicopters, more than 50 land units and over 40,000 firearms. Photo by PNP-PIO
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) is getting a major upgrade in terms of firearms, vehicles and equipment, showing off P3 billion worth of rifles, swanky handguns, helicopters, vans and utility trucks.
The PNP Public Information Office (PIO) said some of the notable equipment acquired were a Bell 429 twin engine helicopter, two Bell H125 single engine helicopters, two training helicopters, 21 explosive ordnance vehicles and 34 trucks.
The new pieces of equipment were presented on Monday, Nov. 18.
The PNP is also getting 21,992 Israeli 5.56 mm Galil rifles, 10,000 Canik striker fired pistols. Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa, acting PNP chief, said the Galils were bought at much lower prices because of competitive bidding.
The popular Israeli-made rifles were bought at just P41,000 per unit, a huge discount compared to P68,000 per unit in later purchases and more than three times lower than the purchase price for the same rifles by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at P168,000 per unit.
“If you would observe the items are of different brands, we do not really go for one brand […] If you would take a look at the Galils, they were originally procured at P68,000,” said Gamboa in Filipino.
“After subsequent biddings, the price went down to P58,000, then down to P49,000 […] So you see the evolution. Actually I am teasing PDEA because the 600 units they purchased cost P168,000 per piece,” he said.
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Other firearms purchased included the following:
- 2,001 units Taurus 9mm Striker Fired Pistol
- 6,353 units Tisas 9mm Striker Fired Pistol
- 1,677 units K2C1 5.56mm Basic Assault Rifle
- 205 units K3 5.56mm Light Machine Gun
- 8 units NEGEV7 5.56mm Light Machine Gun
- 141 units NEGEV5 7.62mm Light Machine Gun
Gamboa also stressed the need for protective equipment, like combat helmets, as it may save the lives of police officers. Part of the package are 7,924 units of Enhanced Combat Helmet Level III.
“In the past there were a lot of casualties involved where police get shot in the head, because we didn’t have the required protective gear,” Gamboa said.
“So now with this kind of equipment we can prevent head shots because of course it’s very fatal. I am a witness when we visited police casualties of the drug war who got shot in the head and ended up in a vegetative state if they don’t die immediately,” he said./Edited by TSB
