Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Ano has ordered the immediate distribution of brand new M4 Remington rifles.
Army spokesman
Col. Benjamin Hao said the Army is hoping to complete the distribution of the
rifles to troops in the frontline before the end of the year.
"The
instruction of the commanding general is we will issue these firearms to our
troops as soon as the processes are finished. Our target is these firearms will
be with our troops before the end of the year," said Hao.
"Right now,
the instruction of the commanding general is to release it as soon as all
procedures are met," Hao also said, adding that these firearms were
supposed to have been distributed as early as last year.
The military set
aside P1.9 billion for the acquisition of over 50,000 M4 rifles as part of its
ongoing modernization program. Remington began delivering the firearms as early
as July last year.
Hao said 44,000
of the firearms were for the Army while the 6,000 others were for the use of
Marine soldiers.
President Aquino
led the ceremonial turnover of the firearms to Army soldiers the following
month, only to be discovered by the military's Technical Inspection and
Inspection Committee that the firearms had defects.
Remington was
informed of the problem - moving rear sight - involving the firearms for the
Army, and the company replaced the part of the firearms and formally accepted
by the military last August 13.
The firearms for
the Marines, on the other hand, had no defect because they had no rear sights.
Placed in the slots for the rear sight were optics or rifle scopes.
At present, a
large part of the firearms for the Army are still undergoing ballistic testing
by the PNP Crime Laboratory - the last procedure to be hurdled. The firearms
are kept at a storage facility in Camp
Aguinaldo
The official said
the PNP Crime Laboratory is using the Integrated Ballistic Identification
System, a computer-based system that gathers digital images of cartridge casing
and bullets fired from these firearms.
Hao acknowledged
that the issuance of these firearms was "definitely" delayed brought
about by the defects in the delivered firearms.
"It was indeed
delayed. You know, when it was first shown to us, the soldiers, including the
officials, were very happy. But we don't want to have firearms that have
problems…We don't want a moving rear sight," he said.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/08/27/15/army-chief-orders-immediate-distribution-new-rifles
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