Eduardo Romuáldez y Ziálcita (November 22, 1909 – July 19, 2001) 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 ...

banker, financial administrator and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States from 1971 to 1982. He also was the 15th

Secretary of Finance The Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit ( es, Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP) is the finance ministry of Mexico. The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the department, and is a member of the federal executive ...

, serving from 1968 to 1970 under the Marcos administration.

Early life and education

Romualdez was born on November 22, 1909 in

Tolosa, Leyte Tolosa, officially the Municipality of Tolosa ( war, Bungto han Tolosa; tl, Bayan ng Tolosa), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 20,708 people. It is located ...

to Miguel Lopez Romualdez, assemblyman for Leyte and

Mayor of Manila 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

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 opposin ...

, and Brigida Zialcita. His siblings includes former House Speaker

Daniel Romualdez Daniel Zialcita Romualdez (September 11, 1907 – March 22, 1965) was a Filipino politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1957 to 1962. He was first cousin to former First Lady Imelda Marcos. ...

. He is the nephew of

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

Norberto Romualdez Norberto Romuáldez y López (June 6, 1875 – November 4, 1941), often referred to as Norberto Romuáldez Sr. to distinguish him from his son with the same name, was a Philippine writer, politician, jurist, and statesman. He was the first Lopez ...

and is the uncle of former Health Secretary

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

, footballer

Johnny Romualdez Juan Miguel "Johnny" del Gallego Romualdez was a former Philippine international footballer and former President of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). Early life and education Johnny Romualdez was born to a family of doctors and was the sec ...

and current Ambassador to the United States Babe Romualdez. He is also the first cousin 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 dictator ...

and Ambassador

Benjamin Romualdez Benjamin "Kokoy" Trinidad Romualdez (September 24, 1930 – February 21, 2012) was a Filipino politician who served as Governor of Leyte and later appointed as ambassador to the United States, China and Saudi Arabia. He was a younger brother to ...

. Romualdez went to

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_aff ...

for highschool, graduating in 1925. He studied 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 200 ...

where he earned his degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. He holds a master's degree from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

and a doctorate from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Career

Romualdez's career in government began in 1934 when he was a bank manager at the Bureau of Banking (predecessor of the current

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...

) under the Department of Finance, serving until 1947. He was president of the

Philippine Trust Company Philtrust Bank, formally known as the Philippine Trust Company, is one of the oldest private universal banks in the Philippines. Founded on October 16, 1916, its history parallels the growth of the Philippine banking system. It is the third b ...

and the Fidelity and Surety Company from 1947 to 1954. From 1951 to 1956, he was the regional vice-president of the

American Bankers Association The American Bankers Association (ABA) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association for the U.S. banking industry, founded in 1875. They lobby for banks of all sizes and charters, including community banks, regional and money center banks, sav ...

. Also in 1951, Romualdez was appointed by 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 enter ...

as member of the

National Power Corporation The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas of ...

Board of Directors. In 1954, he was appointed by President

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 ...

as chairman and CEO of the Rehabilitation Finance Corporation (now reorganized as the

Development Bank of the Philippines The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is a state-owned development bank headquartered in Makati, Philippines. It was established after World War II in 1947 on the government's effort through its mandate to rebuild the country's war t ...

). Due to his position as RFC chairman, he was an ''ex officio'' member of the Monetary Board of the

Central Bank of the Philippines The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...

. He also was the government representative and chairman of the board of

Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. ( PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and i ...

beginning in January 1954 until 1962. In 1956, Magsaysay nominated Romualdez to be the Philippine alternate governor to the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

and the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...

. His nomination was approved by the

Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments ( fil, Komisyon sa Paghirang, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by th ...

in July 1956 and he served until 1961. He also briefly served as an ''ex officio'' member of the

Cabinet of the Philippines The Cabinet of the Philippines ( fil, Gabinete ng Pilipinas, usually referred to as the Cabinet or Gabinete) consists of the heads of the largest part of the executive branch of the national government of the Philippines. Currently, it includes ...

owing to him becoming the presiding officer of the National Economic Council in 1956. In 1958, President

Carlos P. Garcia Carlos Polestico Garcia (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth president of the Philippines. A l ...

nominated Romualdez to be president of the

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, Filipino/ tl, Bangko Nasyonal ng Pilipinas, lit=; es, Banco Nacional Filipino; Hokkien ) is one of the largest banks in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, durin ...

, cutting short his term as RFC chairman. He served with the bank until 1961. Throughout the 1950s, Romualdez was either a member or the chairman of the board of directors of various companies including

Insular Life The Insular Life Assurance Company, Ltd. (commonly known by its trade name, Insular Life, and shortened as InLife) is a mutual life insurance company in the Philippines. Established on November 25, 1910 in Manila, it is the first Filipino life in ...

and Baguio Gold Mining Co. (now PAL Holdings, Inc.). He was director of the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines from 1950 to 1952. He became president of Philippine Airlines from 1961 to 1962 and again from 1966 to 1970. Ford, Romualdez, Enrile (1976-04-13)

In 1968, Romualdez was appointed by President

Ferdinand 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 ...

to be his

. In 1970, due to student protests now known as the

First Quarter Storm The First Quarter Storm ( fil, Sigwa ng Unang Sangkapat), often shortened into the acronym FQS, was a period of civil unrest in the Philippines which took place during the "first quarter of the year 1970". It included a series of demonstrations, ...

, several cabinet members were replaced by Marcos including Romualdez, who was replaced by

Cesar Virata Cesar Enrique Aguinaldo Virata (born 12 December 1930) is a Filipino former statesman and businessman who was the fourth Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986. He is currently the corporate vice chairman of the Rizal Commercial B ...

. In 1971, he was appointed Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States. He presented his credentials to

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on October 13, 1971. In November 1974, Romualdez was held hostage for over 10 hours at the

Philippine Embassy The Republic of the Philippines has a network of diplomatic missions in major cities around the world, under the purview of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), to forward Philippine interests in the areas that they serve, as well as to se ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

According to the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, it was believed to be the first time a foreign ambassador was held hostage in the United States. Romualdez was eventually released after assurances were made by President Marcos that the perpetrator's son in the Philippines would be given an exit visa and be allowed to leave the country.

Personal life

Romualdez was married to Concepcion Veloso. They had 4 children. He was a member of the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

becoming president in 1953 and later, as a district governor of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

. He also supported the Philippine Tuberculosis Society and the Philippine Cancer Society. Romualdez died in his sleep on July 19, 2001. He was buried on July 24 at

La Loma Cemetery The La Loma Catholic Cemetery (Spanish: ''Campo Santo de La Loma'') was opened in 1884 and is largely located in Caloocan, Metro Manila. A portion of the southern part of the cemetery is located in Manila. The La Loma Cemetery is the oldest ceme ...

References

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