He says the peace process "is a multi-track endeavor aimed at peacefully resolving the internal armed conflicts in the country." But, he shakes his head, "The Peace Process is more than just peace negotiations with rebel groups. It also seeks to address the root causes of the conflicts through structural reforms."
He is grateful that despite the fiscal, economic and political crises besetting the country today, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has "specifically identified the termination of the New People’s Army and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) conflicts as one of her administration’s 10-legacy agenda." This agenda calls for the carrying out of a national peace plan by the end of 2010.
The armed hostility between the state and the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front) is the "biggest obstacle to peace and development in the country." It has spanned over three decades, wounding many communities in the countryside, and damaging social relationships and people’s capacity for governance.
Peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF Attorney Sarmiento tells people eager to listen because they want peace, has been proceeding "through a rough terrain, but its prospect remains optimistic." In March 1998, the government and NDF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), the first of four agreements that the two parties are expected to forge.
The CARHRIHL, however, did not take root on the ground until June 2004 when a joint monitoring committee on CARHRIHL was finally put up. However, shortly after the agreement was made operational, the NDF unilaterally postponed the peace negotiations in August 2004 because of its inclusion in the United States’ terrorist listing. The Philippine government, Sarmiento says, is not responsible for the listing, nor could it persuade the US government to strike the NDF off its list. "Only by its actions will it convince the US government to remove it from its list of terrorists."
The good news is that the formal peace negotiations between the government and the NDF are scheduled to resume next month. This was agreed upon following the informal talks held in Oslo, Norway, last month, upon the invitation of the Royal Norwegian government. The parties have also agreed to a nationwide joint ceasefire during the days when the formal negotiations are held.
Meanwhile, the government is having negotiations with local rejectionist communist groups, namely: the RPMP-RPA-ABB and the Rebolusyonaryong Proletaryang Manggagawa ng Mindanao (RPMM). Sarmiento says the effort includes rehabilitation and development of their communities. Sarmiento is hopeful that a ceasefire agreement with the RPMM will be forged soon.
He points to the "relative peace" as existing in Mindanao on account of ongoing ceasefire and peace negotiations. The President, he says, has mentioned in her State of the Nation Address that 80 percent of the peace talks with the MILF have been completed. What remains to be resolved is the issue of ancestral domain, particularly the issue of governance.
The relative peace is on account of the presence of the international monitoring team (IMT) composed of 50 Malaysians, 10 Bruneians, and four Libyans. Based in Cotabato, the team monitors the observance of the ceasefire agreement between the government and MILF forces, and "if possible, to prevent skirmishes." In the past, there were 500 skirmishes, but since the coming of the IMT, not a single skirmish has taken place in Mindanao. The presence of the IMT is, says Sarmiento, "a strong sign that the Malaysian government has trust in the government and the MILF."
Some observers have commented wryly about the impossibility of having an agreement with the MILF when the terms of the agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have not been honored.
The government peacemaker is hopeful that kinks will be ironed out. Already, he says, Phase I of the agreement has been implemented – which refers to the integration of rebel returnees into mainstream society.
Phase II is being implemented, through livelihood assistance given to combatants, the appointment of Muslims in national and constitutional bodies. He ticks off names of Muslims as having been appointed to top government posts, such as OPAPP Undersecretary Dimas Pundato; Samsamin Ampatuan as head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, and Nasser Pangandaman as Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary. Their appointments, he says, show that the President "gives importance to our Muslim brothers’ having an important role in running the government."
Listening to Sarmiento, one comes away believing with him, that the GRP-MILF conflict is easier to solve than the GRP-CPP conflict. The latter he terms, in fact, as "a hard nut to crack."
But he is optimistic that peace will be realized. "Negotiators should be optimists, they should believe that nothing is impossible, if you believe in the guidance of Almighty God. The faith dimension counts a lot – the belief that nothing is impossible."
Is he a religious person, we ask him. He smiles (he is a pleasant person), and replies, "Let’s say I am spiritually active."
He was born Dec. 15, 1953 in Virac, Catanduanes, and is married to La Rainne Abad of San Narciso, Zambales, who is a staunch women’s rights advocate and who once served as a barangay captain. They have three children – Gabriela, 21, Jeremiah, 19, and Golda, 8.
In his years of lawyering, Rene never thought he’d be into the peace process. He relates that former President Fidel V. Ramos appointed him in 1996 to the GRP panel to negotiate with the NDF – "after asking around for someone who was active in the human rights movement." Rene was later promoted to vice-chairman of the GRP panel.
His public work experience includes serving as a member of the Select Committee to screen judges and justices of the Court of Appeals; as commissioner of the 1986 Constitutional Commission which drafted the 1987 Constitution; as technical consultant of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights.
He is a lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy, a professor at the College of Law of Polytechnic University of the Philippines, where he teaches human rights law, legal ethics and constitutional law. President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed him deputy presidential adviser April 1 this year, and he assumed the post of OPAPP OIC effective July 8, 2005.
Sarmiento believes that the promotion of peace calls for the cooperation of civil society. Which is why he puts premium on "dialogue and discourse as important components of our peacemaking efforts." He encourages communities to hold interfaith dialogues.
Among his activities this month is speaking as guest of honor at the "Journey to Peace" forum sponsored by the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development in Mindanao in cooperation with the Young Women’s Christian Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Women’s University on September 28.