CAPTAIN, 0-9713, PHILIPPINE ARMY
For acts of conspicuous courage, gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above beyond the call of duty during a fierce firefight with about 200 numerically superior rebels at Sitio Manipolun, Pandaran, Murcia, Negros Occidental on 6 April 1990, while serving as Commander of five joint teams of the 606th Special Forces Company, Philippine Army and elements of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Units.
Upon receiving information on the presence of a large communist terrorist camp in the hinterland of Murcia, CAPT ORTIZ initiated and planned a raid mission on the place. Under cover of darkness, he led his troops in a grueling 11-hour cross-country foot march and dangerously scaled a 1,000 foot steep cliff to infiltrate enemy territory. Faced with a formidable rebel force, outnumbering his troops by 4:1 ratio and compounded by a grim prospect that an enemy counterattack would force his troops to back off through the same fatally dangerous cliff where air or artillery fire support and troops in creeping to as close as 10 meters from the enemy, cautiously avoiding booby traps and claymore mines.
As he launched the surprise attack, the stunned rebels scampered for cover and fought back from their bunkers, behind tree trunks and felled trees, but he systematically orchestrated the momentum of the attack by sustained, accurate and controlled fires and maneuver. Disregarding personal safety, he darted from one team to another, encouraging his troops, directing their lines of fire and instructing them to spare the women and children huddled under a tree and instructed them to lie prone to avoid being hit. Leading his men in hot pursuit against the scampering rebels, the troops overwhelmed the enemy and completely overran the 28-hut NPA training camp.
The 2-hour gun battle resulted in 84 terrorist killed with 22 dead bodies counted, including 17 recovered on site, 8 captured, several others wounded, and 105 missing, as reported by the Negros Regional Party Committee monitored thru Negros Island command's Radio Monitoring System. Only one was wounded on the government side. Recovered from the enemy were 33 assorted firearms, 7 hand grenades 20 rifle grenades, 5 ICOM radios, 8 claymore mines, 30 electric blasting caps, explosives thousands of ammunition, surgical and medical equipment, voluminous documents, P 70,000.00 cash money and others. By the deploy of exceptional courage and a high degree of leadership. CAPTAIN ORTIZ distinguished himself in the field of combat in keeping with the highest tradition of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
(Reference: GENERAL ORDERS NUMBER 1139, dated 6 December 1990, General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City)
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