Women's Month: Cruz twins have advice for anyone who wants to try gun shooting

MANILA, Philippines — Extreme sports hobbyists Kukay and Kikay Cruz gave an advice to young people who want to try shooting as sport.

In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com in Armscor Shooting Center, Inc., in Marikina City where they were launched as the endorsers of Striker Fired Pistol STK100, Kukay and Kikay said that having a coach is important in the shooting sport.

“First of all, don't experiment by yourself. Dapat you have a coach who has lots of experience,” Kukay said.  

“And don't be afraid of the gun, it won’t kill you naman if you know what you’re doing. You should be fine,” Kikay added.  

Kukay said that there is no age limit in trying the sport as they started as early as four years old. 

“And I think people should try it no matter what age they are. Some people think it has an age limit but we started as four (year-old children),” she said.  

“I think it's better if you start them young so that they're more aware... and more disciplined when it comes to guns,” Kikay added. 

Apart from shooting, the twins are also active in other extreme sports such as rock climbing, rappelling, gymnastics and car racing, to name a few. 

Armscor Global Defense, Inc. is a firearms manufacturing company headquartered in the Philippines and is one of the biggest exporters of firearms and ammunitions in the world, exporting to over 65 countries in Europe, Asia and the United States. Its factory in Marikina City produces over 180,000 firearms and over 500 million ammunition annually.

The company currently has over 1,200 employees, and while it continues to be dependent on manpower, it is fully cognizant of the importance of precision and quality in the manufacturing process. Thus, in 2017, it started the concept of automation to improve the quality of its sanding process while decreasing the rejection rate. In addition, Armscor also wanted to protect the health of its employees since some byproducts may be hazardous to health.

At present, Armscor Global Defense, Inc. utilizes robots for the sanding process and in frame manufacturing. It has a total of eight robotic arms located in three different cells in its manufacturing facility in Marikina City. Automation has greatly reduced errors in the manufacturing process, and as a result, production efficiency has increased, while scrap quality has decreased.