DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 April) – Moro leaders on Tuesday welcomed the appointment of former Local Governments Secretary Mel Senen Sevilla Sarmiento as the new Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (PAPRU) vice Carlito Galvez, a retired Army general who served as Presidential Peace Adviser under two Presidents.
Sarmiento’s last government post was as Local Governments Secretary under President Benigno Aquino III, succeeding Manuel Roxas who ran for President in 2016. Sarmiento served as Local Government Secretary from September 11, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
Galvez resigned “to attend to the health of my wife, and to devote myself to my family – a commitment that is, perhaps, long overdue.”
Sustaining gains of the peace process
Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) said he looks forward to “working closely together” with Sarmiento.
“I hope to build a strong partnership based on trust, respect, and a shared commitment to sustaining the gains of the peace process, especially in the Bangsamoro region,” Macacua said in a statement posted on April 21.
He thanked Galvez for his “dedicated service and commitment” as PAPRU.
BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, concurrent 1st Vice Chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, told MindaNews on Tuesday that with Sarmiento’s appointment, there is a “greater chance to reinvigorate the peace process in Mindanao.”
But Iqbal, added: “this is not to celebrate the exit of the former PAPRU, Secretary Galvez.”
“Our friendship remains”
Iqbal last year criticized Galvez’ alleged intervention in the BARMM affairs, including what he described as “regime change” when Malacañang replaced interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim (February 2019 to March 2025) with Macacua, the chief of staff of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.
“We may have had differences in the way the peace process is being pushed forward, but our respect for each other remains etched in our memories forever. Our friendship remains,” he said of Galvez.
Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman, Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao from December 2011 to February 2019, said Sarmiento’s “extensive experience in local government is a vital asset, especially as the region approaches its first parliamentary elections.”
In a statement, Hataman said Sarmiento’s background “ensures a grounded approach to governance that will boost the peace process during this critical transition.”
He also thanked Galvez “for his lifelong commitment to peace” and noted how Galvez “has been a constant partner in our province’s transformation from a former conflict area into a center of progress.”
The Bangsamoro Government, Macacua said, remains firm in its commitment to fully implement the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). “I am hopeful that, under the new leadership, we can sustain the momentum and complete the remaining priorities of the transition, so that the benefits of peace can be felt by all Bangsamoro people,” he said.
The CAB, the peace agreement signed by government and the MILF in March 2014 paved the way for the establishment of the BARMM.
“Temporary pause”
Last month, MILF chair Murad declared a “temporary pause” in their engagements in the Bangsamoro peace process until a “full-fledged chairman” of the government peace implementing panel is named.
Murad’s declaration was dated March 12 but made public on March 16.
In July last year, the MILF suspended the decommissioning process until there is “substantial compliance” by the national government in the other tracks of normalization, such as the provision of socio-economic package to the 26,145 decommissioned combatants.
A month later, Murad issued a memorandum prohibiting its commanders and officials from participating “in any decommissioning or normalization activities” organized by the national government and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) “without prior written approval or authorization” from him.
A total of 40,000 combatants and 7,200 weapons are to be decommissioned, and as of the third phase that ended on July 4, 2024, the decommissioned combatants (DCs) number 26,145 (65.4%) and decommissioned weapons at 4,625 (64.2%).
New PAPRU
Before serving as Local Government Secretary, Sarmiento was elected Representative of the 1st district of Samar from June 30, 1992 to June 30, 1995; was Vice Mayor of Calbayog from June 30, 2001 to June 30, 2010: and Mayor from June 30, 2010 to September 10, 2015.
Sarmiento served as chair of the Galing Pook Foundation and was Secretary-General of the Liberal Party where he has been a member since 2009.
On May 22 last year, Galvez tendered his courtesy resignation, following a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to all cabinet members for a performance assessment.
It is not clear if Galvez sent a new resignation letter.
Last week, Malacañang accepted the resignation of National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano, also a retired Army general who, like Galvez, served the Cabinet of both Duterte and Marcos Jr. The new NSA is Eduardo Oban Jr., also a retired general.
From Santos to Sarmiento
Sarmiento is the 12th Presidential Peace Adviser across six Presidential administrations.
The OPAPP, renamed OPAPRU (Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity) through Executive Order 158 issued by Duterte on December 27, 2018, is on its 12th change of advisers since its birth in 1993 but only ten persons have occupied the post as three served as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (PAPP) to two Presidents: Teresita Quintos-Deles (Arroyo and Aquino administrations), Dureza (Arroyo and Aquino) and Galvez (Duterte and Marcos).
The first PAPP was Oscar Santos (1993-1995), followed by Manuel Yan (1994-2001), Eduardo Ermita (2001-2003), Deles (2003-2005), Dureza (2005-2008), Hermogenes Esperon (2008-2009), Avelino Razon (2009), Annabelle Abaya (Oct 2009- 30 June 2010), Deles (01 July 2010 to June 30, 2016), Dureza (July 1, 2016 to November 27, 2018), and Galvez (December 20, 2018 to June 30, 2022 and 2022 to 2026).
Dureza succeeded Deles twice, in 2005 and in 2016. Two retired Chiefs of Staff succeeded Dureza: Esperon in 2008 and Galvez in 2018.
Galvez, a member of Philippine Military Academy’s PMA Class 1985, spent most of his military career in Mindanao as company, battalion, brigade, division commander and head of the Western Mindanao. Command. He assumed the post of Chief of Staff on April 19, 2018.
After retiring from the military, he became Presidential Peace Adviser. But Galvez had been part of the Bangsamoro Peace Process, having been appointed in July 2014 as co-chair of the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (Joint CCCH) for the government during the peace negotiations with the MILF.
Galvez was co-chair when the Mamasapano Tragedy of January 25, 2015 happened. Sixty six persons were killed then, 44 from the Special Action Forces, 17 MILF combatants and five civilians.
Under the Marcos administration, he was named Presidential Peace Adviser on holdover status until December 31, 2022 or until a Peace Adviser is named, was appointed Defense Undersecretary and OIC Defense Secretary on January 9, 2023, serving until June that year when Gilberto Teodoro was named Defense Secretary. Galvez returned to head the OPAPRU. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
