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 The House of Representatives (; '','' thus commonly referred to as ''Kamara'') is the lower house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the Senate of the Philippines as the upper house. The ...

from 1957 to 1962. He was first cousin to former First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...

Early life

Daniel "Danieling" Romualdez was born in Tolosa, Leyte. He was enrolled at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

Sampaloc, Manila Sampaloc is a district of Manila, Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of is ...

and obtained his law degree in 1931.

Ancestors

Romualdez' father was Don Miguel Lopez Romualdez, assemblyman for Leyte and

Mayor of Manila The City Mayor of Manila (, 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 heads in the Philippines, the m ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His mother was Brigida Zialcita of Manila. Romualdez' father was the second of the three sons of Trinidad "Tidad" Lopez, eldest daughter of Spanish friar, Don Francisco Lopez of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(later of Burauen,

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 been ...

), and Daniel Romuáldez of

Pandacan Pandacan is a district in Manila, Philippines, which is known in recent history as the former site of the Pandacan oil depot, Pandacan Oil Depot which supplied the majority of oil exports in the country. Etymology Pandacan is a corrupted term ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, a tuberculosis survivor and

Cabeza de Barangay A ''cabeza de barangay'' ("barangay head"), also known as ''teniente del barrio'' ("holder of the barrio"), was the head of a barangay or barrio political unit in the Philippines during Spanish rule.Scott, William Henry. ''Barangay Sixteenth-C ...

. His paternal grandfather Daniel was owner of the Malacañang Gardens, the huge expanse of land dedicated to entertaining guests of Philippine presidents. Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Norberto Romualdez was his uncle. Another uncle, Dean Vicente Orestes Romuáldez y Lopez, was the father of

and grandfather of the current Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez.

Family

Romualdez' siblings include Attorney Estela Zialcita Romualdez Sulit married to Mariano Sulit, Miguel Zialcita Romualdez Jr. married to Cecilia Planas (distantly related to Rosario Planas), Alberto Zialcita Romualdez married to the Spanish mestiza Covadonga del Gallego of Paco,

(their son is former

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 o ...

Secretary Alberto Romualdez), Amelia Zialcita Romualdez Janairo married to ex-

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

chief engineer and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

veteran Maximiano Janairo of

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(both are buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

), Froilan Zialcita Romualdez married to Josefina Siervo and Philippine Central Bank Governor Eduardo Romualdez married to Concepcion Veloso, popularly nicknamed Conchita, who also hailed from a powerful

political family. He was married to Paz "Pacing" Gueco of Magalang,

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

, member of the Kahirup, an aunt of Benigno Aquino Jr. from nearby Concepcion,

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...

, and heiress to vast tracts of ricelands from her

Chinese-Filipino Chinese Filipinos (sometimes referred as Filipino Chinese or Chinoy/Tsinoy in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent with ancestry mainly from Fujian, but are typically born and raised in the Philippines. Chinese Filipinos are one ...

Gueco clan. He has four daughters. Seeing the potential of his cousin

, who was by then the undisputed Rose of Tacloban title holder and was renowned throughout the provinces for her singing voice, Danieling and other cousin Loreto Romualdez Ramos brought Imelda to Manila. His first cousin once removed, Daniel Gomez Romualdez, was a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

architect and son of former ambassador and governor Benjamin Trinidad Romualdez (brother of

) and that of the son of Froilan Romualdez and Josefina Siervo named Daniel Siervo Romualdez.

Political career

President Ramon Magsaysay with Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez Sr

Romualdezes were original members of the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

and his old home on Dapitan Street Extension,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

, was its regular meeting place. Romualdez first entered politics in 1949 when he was elected to represent the Fourth District of Leyte in the House of Representatives. A member of the

, Romualdez was re-elected in 1953 and 1957. In 1961, Romualdez was elected Representative of the First District of Leyte. During the

3rd Congress of the Philippines The 3rd Congress of the Philippines (), composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of Representatives, met from January 25, 1954, until December 10, 1957, during the 39-month presidency of Ramon Ma ...

, Romualdez served as Speaker Pro-Tempore. After House Speaker Jose Laurel Jr. vacated his congressional seat in 1957 following an unsuccessful bid for the Vice-Presidency, Romualdez replaced him as Speaker upon the opening of the 4th Congress in 1957. Romualdez served as Speaker until March 1962, when his Nacionalista Party ceded its congressional majority to 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. For example, while the political systems ...

Cornelio Villareal Cornelio Tupaz Villareal (September 11, 1904 – December 22, 1992) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1962 to 1967, and again from 1971 to 1972. Popularly know ...

succeeded him as Speaker. Romualdez assumed the post of Minority Floor Leader, in which capacity he was serving upon his death in office from a heart attack in 1965.Paras, p. 112

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romualdez, Daniel Z. 1965 deaths People from Leyte (province) People from Pandacan Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Leyte (province) University of Santo Tomas alumni 1907 births Nacionalista Party politicians 20th-century Filipino lawyers Daniel Minority leaders of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Deputy speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Filipino people of Spanish descent