THE PNP yesterday “demilitarized” or destroyed more than 6,000 unserviceable firearms previously used by policemen and civilians to prevent them from being recycled.
PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. led the ceremonial destruction of the 6,526 firearms, including rifles, in rites at the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame.
PNP director for logistics Maj. Gen. Ronaldo Olay said the firearms, specifically those owned by the PNP, have already met their lifespan and “turned beyond economic repair.”
Olay said they are “due for disposal” as they are “unserviceable” and they “pose (a) hazard not only to the PNP but also to the public.”
The firearms were cut to pieces to ensure that parts will not be re-used or recycled.
Azurin said the demilitarized weapons included PNP firearms that are “beyond economical repair.” They also included captured, confiscated, surrendered, deposited, abandoned and forfeited firearms that were later turned into PNP property.
Azurin said the destruction of the firearms was recommended to him by the PNP Firearms Explosives, Ammunition Disposal Committee.
He said the destruction of the firearms was a “testament to our relentless campaign and decisive actions against loose firearms.”
The PNP said this is also to ensure that the firearms will not end up in the hands of “unauthorized individuals and into the arsenal of criminally-inclined persons and purveyors of fear, violence and lawlessness.
“We just witnessed today the symbolic destruction and demilitarization process of 6,526 discarded firearms that are among defective weapons in the PNP arsenal that had been declared beyond economical repair and other captured, confiscated, surrendered, deposited, abandoned and forfeited firearms kept by PNP units,” said Azurin.
The demilitarization process rendered the firearms and their parts as “unusable by reducing it to scrap metal, thus preventing it from being recycled into functional firearms.
“This is part of the PNP gun control measures to keep these firearms off the hands of criminal elements and unauthorized individuals,” said Azurin.
