Roy Cimatu

Roy Agullana Cimatu (Tagalog pronunciation: [sɪˈmatʊ], born July 4, 1946)[2] is a retired Philippine Army general who served as the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources from 2017 to 2022 in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte.

[2] His father joined the guerilla movement and the 15th Infantry of the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines at the Battle of Bessang Pass during World War II.

[2] He took the Infantry Officers Advanced Course with the Philippine Army Training Command and graduated from the Academy as a second lieutenant of the Magiting Class of 1970 and topped his batch and received the highest grade of 97.27%.

[7] He also trained at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, U.S.[5] Cimatu has a master's degree in Business Administration from Ateneo de Manila University.

During his short stint as Southcom chief, he took part in the Balikatan 02-1 military exercises between the Philippines and the United States which took place for the first time in Basilan amid the U.S.-led War on Terror.

[8][4] As the AFP chief, Cimatu crafted and implemented a comprehensive anti-terrorist campaign plan to break the backbone of the Abu Sayyaf and to decimate other terror groups in the country.

[5] As a former chief of staff, Cimatu was accused by former AFP budget officer Col. George Rabusa of receiving send-off money or pabaon when he retired in September 2002.

[4] During the Senate hearing on the 2011 Armed Forces of the Philippines corruption scandal, Rabusa said the retiring AFP chiefs, which also included Diomedio Villanueva and Angelo Reyes, received at least ₱50 million from the pabaon system.

The Department of Justice filed plunder charges against Cimatu and other high-ranking AFP officials in June 2011 for allegedly accumulating ill-gotten wealth sourced from the conversion of military funds.

[4] He was the chief negotiator for the release of kidnapped Filipinos in Iraq including the truck driver Angelo de la Cruz who was abducted by Iraqi insurgents near the city of Fallujah in 2004.

Furthermore, Cimatu stated in a 2019 speech: "In Manila Bay, we have to break down in class SB status the fatal coliform of 330 million spm per 100 ml.

Then-Chief of Staff Cimatu with then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in May 2002