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Ninety percent of Philippine police cannot shoot straight or clean
their guns properly, according to recent firearms proficiency tests,
an official said Friday.
“Of the country’s 125,000 policemen and
women, 90 percent cannot shoot straight and have difficulty just
taking care of their guns,” National Police Commission (Napolcom)
Commissioner Luis Mario General told reporters.
General, whose agency monitors the national
police, said that of the remaining 10 percent most of them ranked
barely above the level of “novice.”
General said his commission would recommend to
the Philippine National Police that it conducts regular marksmanship
training for all its members, including the top brass.
“We will recommend to the police that they
take this matter very seriously because their policemen could either
be killed in the field or could shoot innocent civilians,” said
General.
But General said he could not blame the police
for their failing marksmanship grades, because of the high cost of
marksmanship training and especially bullets.
He also cited recent admissions by top police
officials that almost 50 percent of the national police actually
have no service firearms.
-- AFP
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