He also served as the last Secretary of the Interior and Local Government under President Benigno Aquino III after Jesse Robredo and Mar Roxas.

[1] Unsuccessful in his bid for the mayoralty the following term, he took a break from politics for 6 years, during which time he ran his own construction firm.

In December 2007, Sarmiento received the Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence[18] (KAME IV) and was conferred by the Ambassador of Germany, H. E. Axel Weishaupt at Manila Hotel.

Sarmiento is a member of the Advisory Group of Parliamentarians of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

[19] The WCDRR serves as a venue to gather policymakers and parliamentarians to share knowledge and best practices on disaster risk reduction and resilience.