The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will evaluate the firearms donated by China before it will be distributed to soldiers.

“What may happen here is that they may evaluate it for the characteristics of the weapon and once the characteristics of the weapon was obtained or assess then we can more or less have a data to share with our troops on how this weapon can employ to our advantage,” Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesman, told reporters Thursday.

“We are not setting aside the standard parse but we are going to assess on how the weapons can be best employed to our advantage. Assessing the weapon means testing it, how far it will go, how strong it will be against your shoulder or whatever and then from there, the parameters will come out, the kind of parameters that you will share with your troops,” he added.

However, Padilla said some donated firearms may be used in the ongoing battle in Marawi City.

“It is a big help because most of it were assault rifles that we can share to our troops in battlefield. On the specialized weapon China have provided: two types of sniper rifles that can be used on the ongoing war,” he said.

According to the Department of National Defense, the military assistance package provided by China is worth 50 million yuan which consists of 90 units of sniper rifles, 3,000 units of M4, and 6 million rounds of assorted ammunitions which were hauled from China using four PLA Air Force planes.

The transfer of equipment from China in Clark Airbase, Pampanga last Wednesday was witnessed by President Rodrigo Duterte, AFP Chief of Staff General Eduardo Ano, Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua and Philippine Ambassador to China Chito Sta. Romana.

In his speech during the acceptance ceremony, Lorenzana expressed gratitude to the People’s Republic of China for its donation.

“On behalf of the Filipino people who are indeed the ultimate beneficiaries of Chinese’ magnanimity, I accept this donation from the people of China with a deep sense of gratitude as well as renewed sense of hope for our nation’s safety and security. We assure you that these donations will be put to productive utilization by our Armed Forces,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS