President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday received 5000 Kalashnikov rifles and 20 trucks from Russia.
Apart from these, Duterte received 5000 steel helmets and one million units of cartridges with steel core bullets in turnover ceremonies held at the Port of Manila.
Following a tour of the mammoth anti-submarine warship Admiral Panteleyev, Duterte personally handled some of the donated Kalashnikov rifles along with ammunition and trucks to the Philippine military.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hailed the closer relations as he signed two agreements with his Filipino counterpart, Delfin Lorenzana.
“The Philippines is considered to be (a) key and prospective partner in Southeast Asia and Asian-Pacific rim in general,” the Russian defense ministry quoted him as saying in a statement, adding it was the first time a defense minister from Moscow visited the Philippines.
For decades the Southeast Asian nation has been one of Washington’s most staunch regional military allies.
But the firebrand Duterte, 72, has loosened that 70-year alliance.
Infuriated by American intervention, Duterte has instead reached out to Russia and China.
Shoigu and Lorenzana on Tuesday also signed an agreement at the sidelines of a security forum north of Manila that covered defense cooperation in weapons research and exchange of experts, according to statements from their ministries.
The Philippines also signed a contract to purchase rocket propelled grenade launchers, the Russian ministry said without stating how many weapons would be acquired or how much the deal was worth.
China has also donated thousands of assault and sniper rifles to the Philippines in a similar gesture of friendship. (Eagle News Service, Agence France Presse)
