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ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 19 June) – The city government turned over Wednesday P5-million worth of firearms providing a boost to the firepower of the local police force.
The firearms, comprising of 75 units of M4 rifles, were turned over by Mayor Celso Lobregat to Chief Supt. Juanito Vaño, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director, who in turn handed the rifles to Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo, officer-in-charge of the city’s police force.
The firearms and ammunition were purchased through the peace and order funds of the city government, the mayor said.
Vaño has reminded the local police force during the turnover ceremony to do their mandated tasks as law enforcers.
De Ocampo said the donation of the firearms is a big boost to the firepower of his command.
He said that in distributing the firearms, priority will be police stations in the far-flung areas, especially those with insufficient firepower.
De Ocampo’s command has 11 police stations that cover this city’s 98 barangays, including eight island barangays, some of which frequented by lawless elements.
He said that the local police had already received a total of 274 M4 rifles since 2010 from the city government.