Army shooters bag gold

Two members of the Philippine Army shooting team, which included a female sergeant, bagged two gold medals in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Armies Rifle meet in Vietnam.

Army Capt. Harold Cabunoc, coach of the pistol category team, said Sgt. Jennifer de Belen won the championship in the overall individual pistol match while Sgt. Rodney Rizano bagged the gold in the individual rifle match, beating Suwandi of Indonesia and Bui Van Tuong of Vietnam.

De Belen fired her way to win the Pistol Match 1 and 2 matches, beating Indonesia, whose lady pistol shooters won second and third places.

She also won the Perpetual Trophy for being individual overall champion for three consecutive years.

Army Sgt. Diomedes de Guzman also won silver medal in the pistol match.

Staff Sgt. Richard Tangalin and Sgt. Michael Venerable secured the silver medal in the machine gun match. Both also won the bronze medal in the overall machine gun matches.

The ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet is an annual shooting competition among military personnel of member countries.

The first AARM was held in Camp Terendak in Melaka, Malaysia in 1991.

Among the countries that participated in the annual shooting competition were Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Philippines hosted the AARM at Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City in 1995 and in 2001.

During the 15th AARM held in Brunei, the Philippines bagged the most number of Gold Medals Championship Trophies, or the overall leader in team standing.

This year’s AARM is currently held in Mieu Mon Training Center in Ha Tay province.

Forty-nine Philippine Army personnel composed this year’s AARM Shooting Contingent which would end on Thursday. - James Mananghaya