Ex-Army chief defends colonel in bungled Al Barka operations

MANILA, Philippines – Former Army chief Lieutenant General Arturo Ortiz on Tuesday took the witness stand to defend Colonel Almikandra Undug, who is facing general court martial for the bungled military operations in Al Barka last year which killed 19 of Army’s Special Forces.

It was Undug’s turn to present his evidence.

“I told him before if it is necessary I will testify for him; I’m very willing to testify. I will volunteer to testify in favor of Colonel Undug,” he said in an ambush interview after the hearing.

Undug was then the commander of the Special Forces Regiment Airborne during the Al Barka incident.

“Prior to that incident, there were a lot of successive successful operations done by the Scout Rangers and the Special Forces in Basilan. Yun lang nga, nagkamalas lang (luck ran out) in that particular incident,” the former Army chief said.

Ortiz spoke of Undug with high regard, saying he was “a very good, competitive officer.”

“If you look at his track record from the time he was a team leader or platoon leader, up to the time he was the regiment commander, you could see the track record in all the units he has commanded…He was responsible for the neutralization of some of the key personalities of the Abu Sayyaf. And had been performing consistently very well in all the units he has commanded,” he said.

If not for the incident, Undug would already be a one-star general, he said.

The former Army chief also expressed joy that two of the four accused officers were already cleared by the military court.

“I’m happy for them. At least they could now start, given the opportunity they will be given another command,” he said.

Col Alexander Macario, former head of the Special Operations Task Force Basilan and Lieutenant Colonel Orlando Edralin, former head of the Special Forces School, were recently cleared by the court martial.

“I’m also hoping that Colonel Undug will also be cleared very, very soon. He would a big loss,” Ortiz said.

He added that he is hoping that the other officer facing court martial, Lieutenant Colonel Leo Pena, former commanding officer of the 4th Special Forces Battalion, be also cleared soon.

“He is also a very good officer,” Ortiz said.

However, Pena’s case will continue as his motion to dismiss was denied by the military court at the trial.