Lt. Colonel Michael F. Lugtu graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) with a degree in Bachelor of Science major in Management in 1998.  After graduation, he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Philippine Army and was assigned in different command and staff positions in the Army’s intelligence and tactical units respectively securing and serving vulnerable communities in conflict-affected areas of Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan and Sulu islands in Western Mindanao.

After nine years of a challenging field duty, he was assigned at the Headquarters, Philippine Army in 2007 as an intelligence analyst providing senior Army planners with in-depth intelligence analysis and assessments. In 2010, he was appointed to a foreign assignment as Chief Information and Security Officer of the 3rd Philippine Contingent to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) Mission in the Golan Heights where he provided direction, control and supervision to the information collection efforts and security-related tasks that ensured force protection and security awareness of the Filipino troops.

Prior to his current designation as Staff Officer performing civil-military coordination duties for the Army’s First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), he was appointed as Chief, GPH-MILF Division of the AFP Peace Process Office, in-charge of advising the AFP Leadership on matters pertaining to the peace process of the government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In 2016, he completed his graduate studies with a Master in Development Management (MDM) degree from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).