GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- In a bid to boost its operations, the city government has donated 15 brand new Israeli-made assault rifles to the city police’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit.
Mayor Ronnel Rivera said Monday they acquired the rifles to assist the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) efforts to improve the logistical capability and operations of local police units.
He said the local government spent around P3 million for the purchase of the Sarfl X95 Tavor 5.56 rifles, which are considered as among the top-of-the-line assault firearms.
It included three magazines or ammunition storage and feeding device for each rifle unit, he said.
The mayor said they mainly want to show to the public that the city police, especially its SWAT unit, is well-capable in terms of addressing various security challenges.
He said they don’t want residents to see that local police units and personnel are short of equipment when they do their work.
“We want to show that they are always on top of the situation in matters of peace and order,” he said.
The Tavor X95 rifle was designed and produced by the Israel Weapon Industries and curently the standard issued weapon of the Israeli infantry.
Chief Insp. Geovanni Ladeo, chief of the city police’s public safety company, said the new rifles were a huge upgrade to their unit’s capability, especially in terms of urban operations.
The SWAT unit, along with the explosives ordnance disposal or EOD team, is under the supervision of the city police’s public safety company.
The police official said the SWAT is the primary unit tasked to respond to critical incidents like hostage-taking and those involving active shooters.
Rivera challenged the unit to properly use the firearms “to effectively and efficiently reduce crimes, disorder and fear among the populace."
The mayor acknowledged that the public expects so much from the police personnel and that the city is exerting more efforts to help the city police achieve them.
“We need to help each other to protect our city,” he added.(PNA)
