Dr. Alberto "Quasi" del Gallego Romualdez Jr. (14 September 1940 – 14 October 2013) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

doctor and was the Secretary of Health for the Philippines from 1998 to 2001. He was also the President of Friendly Care Foundation, Inc.

Early life

Romualdez was the eldest of the seven children of Alberto Zialcita Romualdez Sr., a former secretary general of the

World Medical Association The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations representing physicians worldwide. WMA was formally established on September 18, 1947 and has grown to 115 national ...

, and Covadonga del Gallego, a former chairman of the Pathology Department of the

University of Santo Tomas Hospital The University of Santo Tomas Hospital (''simply'' UST Hospital or USTH) is a hospital located at the University of Santo Tomas. The hospital has two divisions, a clinical teaching hospital that offers inexpensive medical care for indigent patient ...

. Among his siblings are footballer Johnny Romualdez and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez. He was a scion of the prominent Romualdez political clan of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

. His uncle Daniel Jr. was House Speaker from 1956 to 1962 while his grandfather Miguel served as

Manila mayor The City Mayor of Manila ( fil, Punong Lungsod ng Maynila, sometimes referred to as, ''Alkalde ng Maynila'') is the head of the executive branch of Manila's city government. The mayor holds office at Manila City Hall. Like all local government he ...

during the American colonial period and Leyte assemblyman during the Commonwealth era. A greatuncle, Norberto Sr., served as justice of the Supreme Court. The late secretary was also a distant nephew of former First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictato ...

; his second cousins include Speaker

Martin Romualdez Ferdinand Martin Gomez Romualdez (, born November 14, 1963) is a Filipino businessman, lawyer and politician serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since July 25, 2022. He is also serving as the Representative for the 1st di ...

, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines President Benjamin Philip Romualdez Jr., President Bongbong Marcos, Senator

Imee Marcos Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios "Imee" Romualdez Marcos (; born November 12, 1955) is a Filipina politician and former actress serving as a Senator since 2019. She is the daughter of Ferdinand Marcos and former first lady Imelda Marcos and the o ...

and

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, ...

Mayor Alfred Romualdez.

Education

Romualdez graduated from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

as Doctor of Medicine, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

. He had further education in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

; Tumor Immunology at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

and Membrane Biophysics at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

Career

His started working at the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

as a Medical Adviser (1979–1982) for the Minister for Health. He was also the director of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine between 1981 and 1984.

Personal life and death

Romualdez was survived by his wife Peachy and their children. Romualdez died at the age of 73 on October 14, 2013 in Manila Doctors Hospital two days after a heart attack. The exact cause of death was not released by the media, but there were reports of his suffering from lymphoma.

References

1940 births 2013 deaths Filipino tropical physicians Secretaries of Health of the Philippines Estrada administration cabinet members University of the Philippines alumni Ateneo de Manila University alumni University of Connecticut alumni Harvard Medical School alumni 20th-century Filipino medical doctors 21st-century Filipino medical doctors Filipino people of Spanish descent Romualdez family {{med-bio-stub