Officers and personnel of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) engaged the local media in a funshoot last July 23 in a day of thrill and camaraderie.
As most of the media attendees are first timers who never held a gun, members of the PMA Shooting Club, who also acted as range officers during the Funshoot, first gave a lecture on gun safety and provided a familiarization round before the actual shooting competition.
Major Allan Margarata, PMA Shooting Club president, explained that one basic rule is to always treat a gun as loaded. Accidents that kill or destroy can happen because of wrong assumptions. He also said a gun pointed at anyone already poses great danger, and a common mistake usually committed by first-timers is swinging the gun just after shooting and this can lead to an accident to anyone behind the shooter.
Margarata reminded would be shooters to make sure that trigger finger must always be out until ready to shoot and to be aware of the target, and what's behind it as well as what is around the shooter, referring to the 180 degree rule.
During the actual shooting, shooters were required to wear goggles and ear muffles. Standard .45 calibers were used in all the events and the safety features of the gun were taught.
The team competitions among members and with combined PMA Shooting Club members and media shooters in the same team elicited a lot of guffawing and teasing and good-natured bantering.
Major winners in the individual category were: Joseph Zambrano of Philippine Information Agency, overall champion; Carl Taawan of Philippine News Agency, first runner-up; Dennis Cabao-an of Skynews, second runner-up; and Romeo Gonzalez of DWIZ, third runner-up.
In the ladies' category, Nicole Kasandra of ABS CBN Baguio, champion; Marissa Dacayanan of Baguio Chronicle, and Mary Langpawan of DZWT, 1st and 2nd runner-up respectively.
PMA Superintendent LtGen. Oscar Lopez said he found some media members to have the potential to perform well in shooting competitions.
According to Lopez, the fellowship activity with the media is a venue where issues, concerns and other information can be shared in a more informal manner rather than in a more stiff atmosphere of a formal press conference. He gamely indulged reporters from the different outfits answering issues on PMA policies, environment, and even general military concerns such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program.
Mary Langpawan of DZWT and Ara Katter of Z-Radio, both first timers, said the event is valuable because of the nature of their jobs, they should have some kind of self-defense skill and a gun could come in handy.
Meanwhile, Lt.Col Norberto Aromin bared that the Philippine Practical Shooting Association will be returning in August for another competition round at the PMA Shooting Range. They earlier held there the qualifying shooting competition for the Austral-Asia competition last June.
Lopez said the shooting events can be the PMA's contribution to the tourism of the city as the newly renovated and expanded shooting range attract gun enthusiasts.
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/91437980644/pma-engages-baguio-media-in-funshoot-
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