Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Cimatu spent most of his military career in
Mindanao. After graduating from the Philippine Military Academy in 1970, he was immediately assigned in
Cotabato City as platoon leader and executive officer of the Alpha Company of the 11th Infantry Battalion under the
3rd Infantry Division. In May 2002, President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Cimatu as the 30th
AFP Chief of Staff citing his accomplishments in his 36 years of military service. As Arroyo's envoy, Cimatu also negotiated for the surrender of 326 AFP officers who joined the
Magdalo Group in the
Oakwood mutiny in July 2003. Cimatu served as Special Envoy to the Middle East for President Arroyo until 2010 and for President
Benigno Aquino III from 2010 to June 30, 2011. On October 11, 2016, Cimatu was reappointed to the same position as Special Envoy to the Middle East by President
Rodrigo Duterte. As Duterte's special envoy, he was part of the President's delegation during the state visits to
Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain and
Qatar from April 10–16, 2017. On April 23, 2017, during the opening ceremony of
Palarong Pambansa 2017 in
San Jose de Buenavista,
Antique, President Duterte introduced Cimatu as a new Cabinet member and announced his appointment as Special Envoy for Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Refugees who is tasked to assist distressed Filipino workers in the Middle East. He is the second retired general to head the department after former AFP chief and Defense Secretary
Angelo Reyes who was President Arroyo's DENR Secretary from 2006 to 2007. As Environment Secretary, Cimatu said he will be reviewing the mine closures ordered by his predecessor. He said "balancing environmental care and
responsible mining can be done". Cimatu however, vowed for a thorough inquiry regarding the theme park to ensure the conservation and protection of the area stating 'that we continue to conserve and protect this last bastion of coastal biodiversity in Palawan'. In a statement, Cimatu said he has ordered his department's Biodiversity Management Bureau, Environmental Management Bureau, and MiMaRoPa office "to undertake an inquiry into this proposed plan, so that at the outset we can ensure that we continue to conserve and protect this last bastion of coastal biodiversity in Palawan." Duterte, satisfied with the Boracay rehabilitation, gave Cimatu a more challenging task of rehabilitating the long-neglected Manila bay and vowed a serious cleanup on Manila Bay coastline which stretches 190 kilo meters across three regions from Cavite in Calabarzon, National Capital Region (NCR) or the Metro Manila area, and Bulacan and Pampanga in Central Luzon. 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. of Manila Bay and the required effort to clean and rehabilitate Manila Bay would take around 330 times as that of Boracay," it indicates that the fatal coliform in Manila bay is far more than what was present in Boracay, despite the overwhelming potential hurdles, the challenge was wholeheartedly accepted by Cimatu stating: "We are in the limelight now of what we want to do with Manila Bay. The President has shown confidence in our competence after what we have done in Boracay." In 2019, Cimatu spearheaded the task of rehabilitating Manila bay, which has been very polluted due to the years of neglect by authorities. Under his leadership, the DENR has begun to inspect establishments near the bay and has given orders for them to put up their own sewage treatment plants. Part of their initiative includes taking water samples of the establishments' wastewater discharges. The rehabilitation was dubbed "The Battle for Manila Bay" by Cimatu. It began on January 27, 2018, wherein around 5,000 people have taken part carrying shovels, broomsticks, and sacks to assist in cleaning up their long-neglected bay.
COVID-19 Pandemic On June 22, 2020, President Duterte assigned Cimatu to oversee the
COVID-19 response in
Cebu City due to city having the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.
Cebu City Environment Consultant On August 30, 2022, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama appointed Cimatu as environment consultant to help realize his vision for the city to be Singapore-like. Cimatu’s task is to help and coordinate with the city on the restoration of waterways, address flooding, and find possible potable water sources to address scarcity. ==Personal life==