Jose Emeterio Villanueva Romero Jr. (4 May 1934 – 10 September 2018), also known as Joe Romero or Jose V. Romero Jr., was a Filipino statesman and diplomat.

Early life and education

Romero was born on May 4, 1934, to

José E. Romero José Emeterio Muñoz Romero Sr. (3 March 1897 – 23 October 1978), commonly known as José E. Romero, was a statesman and diplomat from the Philippines. He represented Negros Oriental, Negros Oriental's Legislative districts of Negros Oriental, ...

and Elisa Zuñiga Villanueva. His father was the first Philippine ambassador to the

Court of St. James's The Court of St James's serves as the official royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The court formally receives all ambassadors accredited to the United Kingdom. Likewise, ambassadors representing the United Kingdom are formally a ...

, while his brother

Eddie Romero Edgar Sinco Romero, (July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013), commonly known as Eddie Romero, was a Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter. Early life Romero was born on July 7, 1924. His father was José E. Romero, the first Philipp ...

was a

National Artist of the Philippines The Order of National Artists of the Philippines ( Tagalog: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas'') is an order bestowed by the President of the Philippines on Philippine nationals who have made significant contributions to ...

for

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

. Romero's father was the son of Francisco Romero Sr., mayor of

Tanjay Tanjay, officially the City of Tanjay (; ), is a component city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 82,642 people. The city is home to two indigenous languages, Minagahat and ...

Negros Oriental Negros Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Oriental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete, one of the two regional centers of Negros Island Region, with the other b ...

from 1909 to 1916 and later a member of the Provincial Board of

, and Josefa Calumpang Muñoz, daughter of Tanjay

gobernadorcillo The (, literally "little governor") was a municipal judge or governor in the Captaincy General of the Philippines, Philippines during the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined ...

Don José Teves Muñoz and Doña Aleja Ines Calumpang, a great-granddaughter of Don Fernando Velaz de Medrano Bracamonte y Dávila ( es), Marquis of Tabuérniga de Velazar ( es), 15th Marquis of Cañete ( GE) ( es), 6th Marquis of Fuente el Sol ( es), 8th Marquis of Navamorcuende ( es), 15th Lord of Montalbo, and Knight of the

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. Romero was formerly married to Carmelita Beatriz Espina Corominas of

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

and had three children. She is the niece of Anita Corominas-Guerrero, wife of

León María Guerrero III Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

who succeeded José E. Romero as Philippine ambassador to the Court of St. James's. Romero obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He did postgraduate work in economics at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and obtained a doctorate degree in development management from the

University of Asia and the Pacific The University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P; ) is a private university in the Philippines. It traces its beginnings to the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), which was established on August 15, 1967, as a private think-tank that cond ...

Professional career

Upon Romero's return from his studies at Cambridge, he worked as an economist at the Department of Economic Research 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 January 3, 1949, and then re-established on July 3, 1993 pursuant to the provision of Re ...

. He was later the director-general of the Congressional Economic Planning Office of the

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

during the speakerships of José Laurel Jr. and

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 ...

. He was executive director of the United Coconut Authority of the Philippines in the mid-1960s and served as president of the Philippine Economic Society from 1971 to 1972. In 1981, Romero co-founded the

Makati Business Club The Makati Business Club is a private non-profit business association in the Philippines founded in 1981 to promote the role of the business sector in national development efforts. Counting senior executives from some of the Philippines' larg ...

together with

Enrique Zobel Enrique Jacobo Emilio Zóbel y Olgado (January 7, 1927 – May 17, 2004), better known as Enrique J. Zóbel and EZ, was a prominent Filipino businessman, pilot, and polo player belonging to the prominent Zóbel de Ayala family who are of S ...

, Rogelio Pantaleon and

Bernardo Villegas Bernardo Malvar Villegas (born March 12, 1939) is a Filipino economist and writer best known for being one of the framers of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, for authoring a number of widely used Philippine economics textbooks, and for his r ...

. During the presidency of

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

, Romero served simultaneously as chairman of the

Philippine Coconut Authority The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA or PHILCOA; ) is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Agriculture (Philippines), Department of Agriculture (from 2014 to 2018, under the Office of the President of the Philippines a ...

and undersecretary of the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

. He later served as board member of

United Coconut Planters Bank The United Coconut Planters Bank, more popularly known by its initials, UCPB, or by its old name, Cocobank, was a Filipino government-owned bank and was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, having ranked within the top twenty banks in ...

and president of the Coconut Investment Fund Management Company. Romero was later appointed Philippine ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. While

chief of mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanen ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, he was also the executive director of the

Common Fund for Commodities The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is an intergovernmental financial institution established within the framework of the United Nations. It is a vestige of the proposed New International Economic Order. The CFC finances commodity development ...

and permanent representative to the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

and the

International Fund for Agricultural Development The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the on ...

. Romero served as a professorial lecturer and long-time trustee of the

and the

Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication The Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication is a graduate school in the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the we ...

. He also lectured at various times at the Ateneo de Manila University, the

Asian Social Institute The Asian Social Institute (ASI) is a graduate school and research institution in Manila, Philippines. It is one of the few graduate institutes specializing in economics, Anthropology, sociology, social work and social services and development in ...

St. Paul University Dumaguete Saint Paul University, also referred to by its acronym SPUD or SPU Dumaguete, is a private Roman Catholic research non-profit coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in Dumaguete, Philippin ...

and

Silliman University Silliman University (also referred to as Silliman or SU) is a private, Protestant, and research university located in Dumaguete City, Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, it is ...

. As a writer and scholar, he authored three books on Philippine political economy and the coconut industry: ''Philippine Political Economy'', ''Postwar Political Economy: 1946-1965'', and ''Transforming the Coconut Industry: Institutional and Policy Reforms Toward Shared Development''. He was also a business columnist and publisher. He was formerly the business editor and assistant publisher of the

Manila Bulletin The ''Manila Bulletin'' () (also known as the ''Bulletin'' and previously known as the ''Manila Daily Bulletin'' from 1906 to September 23, 1972, and the ''Bulletin Today'' from November 22, 1972, to March 10, 1986) is the Philippines' largest ...

and contributed to the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

and

The Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...

. Romero was president of the Philippine Ambassadors Foundation, Inc., an association of active and retired diplomats in the Philippines. At the time of his death in 2018, he was chairman of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations.

Death

Romero died, at 84, on 10 September 2018 in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

while visiting family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Jose V. 1934 births 2018 deaths Ambassadors of the Philippines to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the Philippines to Italy Representatives of the Philippines to the Food and Agriculture Organization 20th-century Filipino businesspeople People from Negros Oriental Corazon Aquino administration cabinet members Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Georgetown University alumni University of Asia and the Pacific alumni Tanjay