Carlos Peña Romulo Sr. (January 14, 1898 – December 15, 1985) 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 ...

diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at the age of 16, a newspaper editor by 20, and a publisher at 32. He was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, a general in the US Army and the Philippine Army, university president, and president of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. He has been named as one of the Philippines's national artists in literature, and was the recipient of many other honors and honorary degrees.

Early career

National Boy Scout Movement 50th Anniversary 28 Oct 1987

Carlos Romulo was born in Camiling, Tarlac and studied at the Camiling Central Elementary School during his basic education. Romulo became a professor of English at 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 ...

in 1923. Simultaneously, Romulo served as the secretary to the

president of the Senate of the Philippines The president of the Senate of the Philippines ( fil, pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas or ), commonly known as the Senate president, is the presiding officer and the highest-ranking official of the Senate of the Philippines, and thir ...

Manuel Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his d ...

. During the 1930s, Romulo became the publisher and editor of ''The Philippines Herald'', and one of his reporters was

Yay Panlilio Valeria "Yay" Panlilio (1913–1978), known as Colonel Yay, was an American/Filipina journalist, radio announcer, and guerrilla leader during World War II in the Philippines. After the war she married the commander of Marking Guerrillas, Marcos V ...

. On October 31, 1936, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) was given a legislative charter under Commonwealth Act No. 111. Romulo served as one of the vice presidents of the organization. At the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Romulo, a major, served as an aide to General Douglas MacArthur. He was one of the last men evacuated from the Philippines before the surrender of US Forces to the invading Japanese, as illness had preventing him from departing with MacArthur, finally leaving from Del Monte Airfield on

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

on April 25. Active in propaganda efforts
particularly through the lecture circuit
after reaching the United States, he became
member of President Quezon's War Cabinet
being appointe
Secretary of Information in 1943
He reached the rank of general by the end of the war.

Diplomatic career

Romulo served eight Philippine presidents, from Manuel L. Quezon to Ferdinand Marcos, as the secretary of foreign affairs of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and as the country's representative to 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 ...

and to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

(UN). He also served as the resident commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives during the Commonwealth era. In addition, he served also as the

secretary of education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in President Diosdado P. Macapagal's and President

Ferdinand E. Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

's cabinet through 1962 to 1968.

Resident commissioner

Romulo served as

resident commissioner of the Philippines The resident commissioner of the Philippines () was a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives sent by the Philippines from 1907 until its internationally recognized independence in 1946. It was similar to current non-voti ...

to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

from 1944 to 1946. This was the title of the non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives for lands taken in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

, and as such, he is the only member of the US Congress to end his tenure via a legal secession from the union.

United Nations

In his career in the UN, Romulo was a strong advocate of human rights, freedom, and decolonization. In 1948, at the third UN General Assembly in Paris, France, he strongly disagreed with a proposal made by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

delegation headed by

Andrei Vishinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (russian: Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский; pl, Andrzej Wyszyński) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat. He is known as a state prosecutor of Jose ...

, who challenged his credentials by insulting him with this quote: "You are just a little man from a little country." In return, Romulo replied, "It is the duty of the little Davids of this world to fling the pebbles of truth in the eyes of the blustering Goliaths and force them to behave!", leaving Vishinsky with nothing left to do but sit down.

Palestine partition plan

In the days preceding the UN General Assembly vote on the Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, Romulo stated "We hold that the issue is primarily moral. The issue is whether the United Nations should accept responsibility for the enforcement of a policy which is clearly repugnant to the valid nationalist aspirations of the people of Palestine. The Philippines Government holds that the United Nations ought not to accept such responsibility." Thus, he clearly intended to oppose the partition plan, or at most abstain in the vote. However, pressure on the Philippines government from Washington led to Romulo being recalled, and was replaced by a Philippines representative who voted in favor of the partition plan.

President of the UN General Assembly

Romulo served as the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the fourth session of UN General Assembly from 1949 to 1950—the first Asian to hold the position—and served as president of the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

four times, twice in 1957, 1980 and 1981. He had served with General MacArthur in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, and became the first non-American to win the Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence in 1942. The Pulitzer Prize website states that Carlos P. Romulo was awarded "for his observations and forecasts of Far Eastern developments during a tour of the trouble centers from Hong Kong to Batavia".

Campaign for secretary-general

Romulo ran for the office of

UN secretary-general The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...

in the 1953 selection. He fell two votes short of the required seven-vote majority in the Security Council, finishing second to

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

of Canada. His ambitions were further dashed by negative votes from France and the Soviet Union, both of whom were permanent members with veto power. The Security Council eventually settled on a dark horse candidate and selected

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

to be UN secretary-general.

Ambassador to the United States

From January 1952 to May 1953, Romulo became only the second former member of the Congress to become the ambassador to the United States from a foreign country, following Joaquín M. Elizalde, who had been his immediate predecessor in both posts. He later served as ambassador again from September 1955 to February 1962.

Return to the Philippines

Philippine presidential aspiration

Romulo returned to the Philippines and was a candidate for the nomination as the presidential candidate for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, but lost at the party convention to the incumbent president,

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...

. Quirino had agreed to a secret ballot at the convention, but after the convention opened, he demanded an open roll-call voting, leaving the delegates no choice but to support Quirino, the candidate of the party machine. Feeling betrayed, Romulo left the Liberal Party and became national campaign manager of

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957. An automo ...

, the candidate of the opposing Nacionalista Party, who won the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

in 1953.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Romulo served as the Philippines' secretary (minister from 1973 to 1984) of foreign affairs under President Elpidio Quirino from 1950 to 1952, under President Diosdado Macapagal from 1963 to 1964, and under President Ferdinand Marcos from 1968 to 1984. In April 1955, he led the Philippines' delegation to the Asian-African Conference at Bandung, Indonesia.

Resignation from the Marcos cabinet

Romulo supported President Ferdinand Marcos through most of his presidency. However, he resigned in 1983, soon after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, citing poor health. Gregorio Brillantes interviewed Romulo in 1984, and Romulo said he resigned "heartsick" because of the assassination of Aquino, whom he considered a "friend", and the resulting freefall of the Philippines' economy and international reputation. According to Romulo's wife, Beth Day Romulo, the Marcos administration had asked him to sign an advertisement that the administration was planning to place in the ''New York Times'' and other major international dailies. Romulo refused to sign the advertisement and instead resigned.

Death

Romulo died, aged 87, in Manila on December 15, 1985, and was buried in the Heroes' Cemetery (

Libingan ng mga Bayani Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB, , ) is a national cemetery within Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Metro Manila, Philippines. First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Philippine military personnel fro ...

) at Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila. He was honored as "one of the truly great statesmen of the 20th century". In 1980, he was extolled by UN Secretary-General

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for t ...

as "Mr. United Nations" for his valuable services to the UN and his dedication to freedom and world peace.

Published books

Romulo, in all, wrote and published 22 books, including ''The United'' (novel), ''I Walked with Heroes'' (autobiography), ''I Saw the Fall of the Philippines'', ''Mother America'', and ''I See the Philippines Rise'' (war-time memoirs). In 1982, he was proclaimed
National Artist for Literature of the Philippines
in recognition of his contributions to Philippine Literature.

Honors

National Honors * PHL Quezon Service Cross BAR

Quezon Service Cross The Quezon Service Cross ( fil, Krus ng Serbisyo ni Quezon) is the highest national recognition of the Philippines, Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to only a handful of Filipinos since its creation in 1946. Background The award ...

– (April 17, 1951) * PHL Order of Sikatuna - Grand Collar BAR

Grand Collar of the

Order of Sikatuna The Order of Sikatuna ( fil, Orden ng Sikatuna) is the national order of diplomatic merit of the Republic of the Philippines. It is conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the Republic of the Philippin ...

, Rank of Raja – (1982). * PHI Legion of Honor 2003 Commander BAR

Philippine Legion of Honor The Philippine Legion of Honor ( fil, Lehiyong Pandangal ng Pilipinas; es, Legion de Honor Filipino) was established by President Manuel Roxas, through Philippine Army Circular No. 60 dated July 3, 1947. The Philippine Legion of Honor was patterne ...

, Commander (''Komandante'') * PHL_Blue_White_Red

National Artist of the Philippines The Order of National Artists of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas'') is an Order (distinction), order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipino people, Filipinos who have made s ...

: Grand Cross (''Dakilang Kamanong'') of the

Gawad Mabini Gawad Mabini is an honor given by the Republic of the Philippines. History Created by Presidential Decree No. 490, the Gawad Mabini may be conferred upon personnel of the DFA, both in the Home Office and in the Foreign Service, and upon Filipi ...

– (2005) * PHI Order of the Golden Heart var2 Grand Cross BAR

: Grand Cross (''Maringal na Krus'') of the

Order of the Golden Heart The Order of the Golden Heart (''Orden ng Gintong Puso'') is an order of the Philippines. History Created by Executive Order 40-A dated June 21, 1954, the Golden Heart Presidential Award was upgraded to the Order of the Golden Heart by Executiv ...

– (1954) * PHI Order of the Golden Heart var2 Member BAR

: Member (''Kagawad'') of the

– (13 September 1954) * PHL_Blue_White_Red

: Presidential Medal of Merit – (July 3, 1949) * Order_of_the_Knights_of_Rizal_Ribbon

Order of the Knights of Rizal The Knights of Rizal is an Order of Chivalry from the Philippines, created to honor and uphold the ideals of Philippine national hero José Rizal. The civic organisation of the "Order of the Knights of Rizal" was established in 1911 by Colonel A ...

, Knight Grand Cross of Rizal. – (1961) * ''Bayani ng Bagong Republika'' (Hero of the New Republic Award) – (14 January 1984) Military Medals (Philippines) * PHL Distinguished Service Star BAR

: Distinguished Service Star * PHL Gold Cross

: Philippine Gold Cross * Philippine Defense ribbon

Philippine Defense Medal The Philippine Defense Medal is a military award and decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which is awarded to recognize the initial resistance against Japanese invasion between the dates of 8 December 1941 and 15 June 1942. The award was ...

Philippine Liberation Medal The Philippine Liberation Medal is a military award of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by an order of Commonwealth Army of the Philippines Headquarters on 20 December 1944, and was issued as the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. The d ...

Military Medals (Foreign) * US Legion of Merit Commander ribbon

: Commander, Legion of Merit * Silver Star BAR

: Silver Star * Purple Heart BAR

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal The Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal is a United States military award of the Second World War, which was awarded to any member of the United States Armed Forces who served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945. The medal was created o ...

Foreign Honors *: Grand Cross, Order of Carlos Manuel do Cespedes *: GRE Order of the Phoenix - Grand Cross BAR

: Grand Cross, Order of the Phoenix *: PRT Order of Christ - Grand Cross BAR

: Grand Cross,

Military Order of Christ The Military Order of Christ is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910 it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was ...

: Knight Grand Cross (''Caballeros Gran Cruz''),

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

: Grand Cordon, Order of Brilliant Star

Awards and recognitions

Romulo is perhaps among the most decorated Filipinos in history. He has been awarded 72 honorary degrees from different international institutions and universities and 144 awards and decorations from foreign countries: *

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

nomination in 1952 "For his contribution in international cooperation, in particular on questions on undeveloped areas, and as president for UN's 4th General Assembly" *

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

*Presidential Unit Citation with Two Oak Leaf Clusters * Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence, 1942 *World Government News First Annual Gold Nadal Award (for work in the United Nations for peace and world government), March 1947 *

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

– Woodrow Wilson Memorial Foundation Gold Medal award ("in recognition of his contribution to public life"), May 1947 *International Benjamin Franklin Society's Gold Medal (for "distinguished world statesmanship in 1947"), January 1948 *Freeman of the City of Plymouth,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, October 1948 * United Nations Peace Medal *World Peace Award *Four Freedoms Peace Award
Notre Dame University, Doctor of Laws
(LL.D.), 1935 *Georgetown University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), 1960
Harvard University, Doctor of Laws
(LL.D.), 1950

Anecdotes from Beth Romulo through ''Reader's Digest'' (June 1989)

At the third UN General Assembly, held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1948, the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

's deputy foreign minister,

, sneered at Romulo and challenged his credentials: "You are just a little man from a little country." "It is the duty of the little Davids of this world," cried Romulo, "to fling the pebbles of truth in the eyes of the blustering Goliaths and force them to behave!" During his meeting with Josip Broz Tito of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, Marshal Tito welcomed Gen. Romulo with drinks and cigars, to which the general kindly refused. Their conversation went as follows: At this, Marshal Tito was tickled by his reply and loudly exclaimed around the room, "I etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!" Romulo was a dapper little man (barely five feet four inches in shoes). When they waded in at Leyte beach in October 1944, and the word went out that General MacArthur was waist deep, one of Romulo's journalist friends cabled, "If MacArthur was in water waist deep, Romulo must have drowned!" In later years, Romulo told another story himself about a meeting with MacArthur and other tall American generals who disparaged his physical stature. "Gentlemen," he declared, "When you say something like that, you make me feel like a dime among nickels."

Books

*''I Saw the Fall of the Philippines.'' *''My Brother Americans'' *''I See The Philippines Rise'' *''I am a Filipino'' *''The United'' *''Crusade in Asia'' (The John Day Company, 1955; about the 1953 presidential election campaign of

Ramón Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957. An automo ...

) *''The Meaning of Bandung'' *''The Magsaysay Story'' (with Marvin M. Gray, The John Day Company 1956, updated re-edition by Pocket Books, Special Student Edition, SP-18, December 1957; biography of

, Pocket Books edition updated with an additional chapter on Magsaysay's death) *'' I Walked with Heroes'' (autobiography) *''Last Man off Bataan'' (Romulo's experience during the Japanese Plane bombings.) *''Romulo: A Third World Soldier at the UN'' *''Daughters for Sale and Other Plays''

Citations

References

* * * * * *

External links