Roman Tecson Romulo (born February 28, 1967) is a Filipino politician and lawyer. He served as a member of

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

representing the

Lone District Lone may refer to: People *Destroy Lonely, a nickname for the artist * Lone (given name), a given name (including a list of people with this name) * Lone (musician), Matt Cutler, an electronic musician from Nottingham, United Kingdom * Lone (surn ...

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

for four consecutive terms from 2007 to 2016 and from 2019 to present. He is the son of former Foreign Affairs Secretary

Alberto Romulo Alberto "Bert" Gatmaitan Romulo (born August 7, 1933) is a Filipino politician and diplomat. He served in the Philippines in various capacities as executive secretary, finance secretary, foreign affairs secretary, and budget secretary. His most ...

and grand-nephew of

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

Carlos Romulo. Romulo is known for authoring "Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014 ( R.A. 10648)", which grants students, belonging to the top 10 bracket of the graduating

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of all

public high schools A state school, public school, or government school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-funded schools ar ...

in the

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 islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, full

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need, research ...

on their admission to any state university or college within the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

where they graduated.

Early life and education

Romulo was born on February 28, 1967, in

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 ...

. He is the third of the five children of diplomat and politician

and Rosie Lovely Tecson. His father, Alberto, was a former

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, Budget Secretary, Finance Secretary, Executive Secretary, and Foreign Affairs Secretary. Romulo attended Ateneo de Manila Grade School for his

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

, where he graduated in 1981. He then attended PAREF Southridge School for his

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

, where he graduated in 1985. He took a Bachelor's Degree in economics at the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

and graduated in 1990. While studying there, he was a member of Upsilon Sigma Phi. He also obtained a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree at the

University of the Philippines College of Law The University of the Philippines College of Law (often referred to as UP Law) is the law school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Formally established in 1911 in UP Manila, it is the third oldest continually-operating law school ...

(also in UP Diliman) in 1994. Romulo was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

on June 29, 1995, with ''Roll No. 40361''. Romulo underwent training course on Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce at the International Development Law Institute in

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, ...

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 ...

in September 2000. In 2015, Romulo was conferred the degrees of

Doctor of Public Administration The Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.) is a terminal applied-research doctoral degree in the field of public administration (a part of public service). The D.P.A. requires significant coursework beyond the masters level and a dissertatio ...

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' by the Lyceum-Northwestern University and Doctor of Humanities ''honoris causa'' by the

University of Baguio The University of Baguio (UB; ), formerly Baguio Technical and Commercial Institute (Baguio Tech), is a private, Filipino, multidisciplinary, autonomous university in Baguio, Philippines. It was founded by Fernando Gonzaga Bautista and Rosa Ca ...

in 2015.

Early career

Romulo worked as an

associate lawyer An associate attorney is a lawyer and an employee of a law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a Law firm#Partnership, partner. Types Practicing attorney An associate may be a junior or senior attorney, but normally does not hold an ...

at ''Quisumbing Torres & Evangelista Law Offices'' from 1994 to 1996. He then worked as an associate lawyer at ''Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan Law Offices'' from 1996 to 1999 and as a senior associate lawyer at the same law firm from 1999 to 2007. He was one of the founding partners of ''Tolosa, Romulo, Agabin, Flores & Enriquez Law Offices'' in 2005.

Political career

House of Representatives (2007-2016)

Romulo ran in

lone district Lone may refer to: People *Destroy Lonely, a nickname for the artist * Lone (given name), a given name (including a list of people with this name) * Lone (musician), Matt Cutler, an electronic musician from Nottingham, United Kingdom * Lone (surn ...

during the 2004 election as an independent. He was endorsed by former Senate President

Jovito Salonga Jovito Reyes Salonga, Knights of Rizal, KGCR (; June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) also called "Ka Jovy," was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer and politician, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from th ...

and supported by former Pasig mayor Vicente Eusebio but lost to Robert Jaworski Jr., who won by a slim margin. Romulo ran again for the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

seat during 2007 election and won. During his term in the

, Romulo was the chairman of committee on Higher and Technical Education and member of the majority of committees on Basic Education and Culture, Constitutional Amendments, Economic Affairs, Human Rights, Information & Communications Technology, Metro Manila Development, Revisions of Laws, Science and Technology, and Veterans Affairs and Welfare.

Legislative portfolio

As a member of 14th, 15th, and 16th

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, Romulo authored 59 bills and co-authored 34 bills. Romulo is the principal author of the House version of the following laws:

2016 Senate bid

Due to limited term for running in congress. Romulo ran for a seat in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

during 2016 election under the Partido Galing at Puso, a coalition of senators,

Grace Poe Mary Grace Natividad Sonora Poe-Llamanzares (born September 3, 1968) is a Filipino politician, businesswoman, educator, and philanthropist serving as a senator since 2013. She was the chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classifi ...

and

Francis Escudero Francis Joseph "Chiz" Guevara Escudero (, born October 10, 1969) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who has served as the 25th president of the Senate of the Philippines since May 20, 2024. Escudero has served as a Senate of the Philippines, s ...

, for presidential and vice-presidential election, and their line-up for Senate election. He filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) at the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

office in

Palacio del Gobernador The Palacio del Gobernador () is a government building located in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. It is located southwest from Plaza de Roma and built in its current form in 1976. At present, the building houses the Intramuros Administration ...

Intramuros Intramuros () is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Intramuros comprises a centuries-old hist ...

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 ...

on October 14, 2015. He said he aims to create a “strong middle class” by promoting

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and lowering income tax rates. He was also endorsed by Davao City Mayor

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

, who won the presidential election. Romulo, however, didn't win the race and was ranked 22nd on the tally. His sister, Mons, who ran in Pasig's at-large congressional district and lost to Richard Eusebio, said in her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post that their family will remain a helping hand in Pasig and the country despite losing the elections.

Return to House of Representatives (2019-present)

Romulo ran in

during the 2019 election as an independent with the support of incoming mayor

Vico Sotto Victor Ma. Regis "Vico" Nubla Sotto (; born June 17, 1989) is a Filipino politician who has served as the 12th mayor of Pasig since 2019. He previously served as a member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, Pasig City Council for the first district ...

. Both of them won.

Personal life

Romulo married politician and television host Shalani Soledad on January 22, 2012, at St. Benedict Church in Ayala Westgrove Heights, Silang,

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 ...

. Romulo was a member judge on Metrobank Foundation's Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT) in 2014. In 2015, ''PeopleAsia's Magazine'' named him as one of the ''Men Who Matter'' awardees.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romulo, Roman 1967 births People from Pasig Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Pasig University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Living people Independent politicians in the Philippines Lakas–CMD politicians Nationalist People's Coalition politicians