MANILA, Philippines?A senior military official admitted on Tuesday that he was not happy being bypassed in the selection of the new commanding officer of the Philippine Army.

Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer, chief of the Army?s Eastern Mindanao Command, said that while he and other ranking military officials respected the decision of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to name Major General Reynaldo Mapagu as Army chief, they were ?not clapping our hands nor celebrating.?

?But we?re not questioning the prerogative of the President,? Ferrer told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

?It?s the prerogative of the President to appoint military officers whom she trusts, in key positions,? he added.

Ferrer, the administrator when martial law was declared in Maguindanao following the November 23 massacre of 57 people in the province, appeared at the witness stand at Tuesday?s hearing of the rebellion case against the Ampatuans in Camp Crame.

Asked what he felt after he was apparently snubbed by Arroyo, he said: ?I will just do my job. As a soldier, I will follow orders. I respect the prerogative of the President.?