EXPLAINER: OPAPRU and the 2026 BARMM elections

Former Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento is set to take the helm of the government’s peace panel. 

Established in 2021 under Executive Order (EO) 158, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) – formerly known as the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) – is mandated to manage, direct, integrate, and supervise the implementation of the comprehensive peace process. 

The OPAPRU has three major objectives: 

• Embed peace, reconciliation and unity in the social fabric;
• Enhance resilience for peace; and
• Pursue social, economic, and political re-engineering.

The OPAPRU also oversees the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which serves as the legal framework for the peace process in Mindanao.

This includes coordinating with national and Bangsamoro institutions in the transition to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), facilitating the normalization track, and supporting the decommissioning and reintegration of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants.

The agency also helps ensure the delivery of socio-economic programs under the peace accord. 

Retired military general Carlito Galvez Jr. served as OPAPP chief in 2018 under the Duterte administration.

He continued serving as presidential peace adviser in a “holdover capacity” in 2022 under the Marcos administration until he was named as officer-in-charge of the Department of National Defense (DND) from January to June 2023. 

In June 2023, Galvez was formally re-appointed as OPAPRU Secretary. 

On Tuesday, Malacañang confirmed that Galvez retired from his post and will be replaced by Sarmiento.

The Palace added that Sarmiento’s appointment is significant amid the upcoming Bangsamoro elections.

READ: Who is Mel Sarmiento?

Sarmiento said the OPAPRU, under his watch, “will prioritize the pursuit of sustainable and inclusive peace” particularly in the BARMM “while ensuring that the gains of all peace agreements signed by government in the past are preserved, strengthened, and fully implemented.”

“We will continue to advance a whole-of-nation approach in addressing internal armed conflict, working closely with local government units as frontliners of peacebuilding and development in their respective communities,” he told GMA News Online. 

“Ultimately, our efforts are anchored on uniting as one nation in achieving our shared aspirations under Ambisyon Natin 2040, a peaceful, secure, and prosperous Philippines for all Filipinos,” Sarmiento added. 

BARMM elections

It may be recalled that last month, President Ferdinand “Bongbong'” Marcos Jr. signed the law resetting the first regular elections in the BARMM to September 14, 2026.

Republic Act 12317 stated that “the first regular election for the Bangsamoro Government under this Organic Law shall be held on the second Monday of September 2026.”

To synchronize the BARMM parliamentary elections with the national and local elections, succeeding BARMM elections will be held on the second Monday of May 2031 and every three years thereafter.

The first elected BARMM officials will serve a five-year term starting from noon of October 30, 2026 to noon of June 30, 2031. — JMA, GMA News