Romualdez Family

The Romualdez family is a political family in the Philippines. Starting from Trinidad Lopez-Romualdez and Daniel Romualdez Sr. The family reached its peak during Imelda Marcos, originally from the Romualdez family, was inaugurated as the First Lady of the Philippines. It also reached its peak during the presidency of Bongbong Marcos. The family contains the careers of Daniel Romualdez, Imee Marcos, Norberto Romualdez, and Martin Romualdez.

Family

First generation (1875-1920)

The family started with Trinidad Lopez-Romualdez as the matriarch and Daniel Romualdez Sr as the Patriarch. Together, they had three children, including Norberto Romualdez, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Miguel Romualdez, the former Mayor of Manila, and Vicente Romualdez, the former Sheriff of Leyte. The family started a coconut business, containing coconuts and abaca.

Norberto Romualdez became a writer, he also became known as the "favorite son of Leyte." He was appointed the assistant attorney of Manila. He was one of the "Seven Wise Men" which created the 1935 Philippine Constitution. In 1920, Miguel Romualdez was elected as the 6th Mayor of Manila. In 1938, Norberto Romualdez was also elected as a representative for Leyte's 4th congressional district.

Second generation (1920-1935)

The son of Miguel Romualdez, Daniel, became the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. He married Paz Gueco, the aunt of Ninoy Aquino. Another one of Miguel's sons, Eduardo Romualdez, became the secretary of Finance from 1966 to 1970. After, he was appointed Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States from 1971 to 1982. Another son, Alberto Romualdez Sr., was elected the Secretary General of the World Medical Association from 1965 to 1973. He died in November 1986.

Vicente Romualdez and his wife Remedios Romualdez had six children, one of them Imelda Marcos, born on July 2, 1929. Vicente Romualdez had several children from another marriage. Remedios died eight years later. The family of Vicente was excluded from the inner circle of the family, causing the leg to be poor. Vicente had another son, Benjamin Romualdez, a former Governor of Leyte. Another child was Alita Romualdez Martel, who married an owner of the construction company Martel Brothers. Armando Romualdez, another child, gained controversy by the Sandiganbayan for gaining ill-gotten land. On November 4, 1941, Norberto Romualdez died.

Third generation (1935-1970)

Alberto Romualdez and his children moved to the United States for his work. According to his son, Jose Manuel Romualdez, he pushed the family to work at a young age. Alberto Romualdez's son, Alberto Romualdez Jr., was the Secretary of Health under the Cabinet of Joseph Estrada. Another one of Alberto's sons, Johnny Romualdez, was a Filipino footballer and the captain of the national Philippine football team during the 1968 Summer Olympics. The last son of Alberto, Jose Manuel Romualdez, is currently the Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States.

Imelda Marcos married to Future President Ferdinand Marcos in 1954. Their first child, Imee Marcos, was born on November 12, 1955. Their second child, Future President Bongbong Marcos, was born on September 13, 1957.Ferdinand Marcos joined the Senate of the Philippines from 1959 to 1965. Their third child, Irene Marcos was born on September 15, 1960. In the 1965 Philippine presidential election, Ferdinand Marcos was elected president. On September 21, 1972, Pres. Marcos declared martial law. He fled the country on February 25, 1986, due to the People Power Revolution, and died three years later in Hawaii.

Benjamin Romualdez's first child was Martin Romualdez. Benjamin's second child, Daniel Romualdez, is an architect, which gained the "World's Best Contemporary Interior Designers" award in 2021. The third child, Philipp Romualdez, is the chairman in Manila Standard. The last child of Benjamin is Marian Romualdez.

Fourth generation (1970-)

Imee Marcos married Tommy Manotoc, a Filipino basketball coach. From 1998 to 2004, Marcos served as a two-term representative for Ilocos Norte's 2nd congressional district. In the 2019 Philippine Senate election, Marcos ran under the Nacionalista Party, gaining 8th with 15,740,650 votes. Their first child is Fernando "Borgy" Manotoc, a Filipino model. Their second child is Michael Manotoc, an attorney. Their third child is Matthew Manotoc, a two-term Governor of Ilocos Norte. Irene Marcos is married to Gregorio Araneta III. They have two children. Luis Araneta, president of Araneta Properties, and Alfonso Araneta.

Bongbong Marcos married Liza Araneta Marcos on April 22, 1993. In 1994, Sandro Marcos was born. On November 25, 1995, Joseph Simon Marcos was born. In 1998, Vinny Marcos was born. During their childhood, they grew up by the beach. In the 2016 Philippine presidential election, Bongbong Marcos ran for vice president independently. He gained 2nd place, with 13,803,966 votes. On December 12, 2017, Sandro Marcos graduated. In the 2022 Philippine presidential election, Bongbong Marcos ran for president, winning with 31,104,175 votes or 58.74 percent of the votes. On the other hand, Sandro ran for congressman of Ilocos Norte's 1st congressional district, winning with 108,423 votes or 56.63 percent of the votes.

Martin Romualdez's wife is Yedda Romualdez, a politician and beauty pageant titleholder. They have four children together. Their first child, Andrew, was born in 2000. Their second child, Ferdinand Martin Jr., was born in 2001. Their third child, Mariabella, was born in 2007. Their fourth and last child, Maddey, was born in 2015. Rep. Martin served as the congressman for Leyte's 1st congressional district from 2007 to 2016. He ran for senator in the 2016 Philippine Senate election under Lakas–CMD, gaining 15th place with 12,066,998 votes. He, again, became the congressman for Leyte's 1st district from 2019, and served a second term in 2022, becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. In 2022, Andrew received his diploma in International Agriculture and Rural Development at Cornell University. Just after, he was nominated as the director of Marcventures Holdings. On October 2, 2024, Martin Jr. ran for councilor in the 2025 Tacloban local elections.

Notable family members

* Norberto Romualdez
* Eduardo Romualdez
* Imelda Marcos
* Jose Manuel Romualdez
* Alberto Romualdez Jr.
* Johnny Romualdez
* Imee Marcos
* Bongbong Marcos
* Irene Marcos
* Sandro Marcos
* Martin Romualdez
* Matthew Manotoc

References

{{Reflist

Political families of the Philippines
Romualdez family
Marcos family