POLICE and military personnel underwent training for the use of non-lethal means and techniques for potential savings and in dealing with civil disturbance such as crowd dispersal and riot situations, a police official said Wednesday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) - Civil Disturbance Management Unit lead instructor Rafael Muchelas said 135 personnel from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Philippine Army, Navy and United States marine corps attended the seminar tagged "Non-Lethal Weapons Executive Seminar" held at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.
Muchelas said participants were trained on using non-lethal weapons such as martial arts, batons, shields, truncheons and other non-deadly weapons.
He said the use of such will help the government security forces save budget.
"Siyempre walang gastos sa bala yan. Walag firing (ng baril). Hand to hand combat lang. Pag may nagwawala diyan kaya nating i-stop ‘yung tao through hand to hand combat or batons. Tsaka pag simpleng gulo lang na hindi naman kailangan ng matataas na calibre at nakakamatay na weapons makakatulong ito ng malaki, for example 'yung mga bala masesave pa iyo para sa mas kritikal na operasyon ng police o ng military" he said.
Muchelas said the training, which will be participated by more security personnel in batches, will run until August 16. (Sunnex)