Former foreign secretary Alberto G. Romulo: ‘A National Treasure’
There is always a first, even for one who has served the government since 1984, travelled the world, supped with kings and presidents, while keeping a sterling reputation, unsullied by time. For Alberto G. Romulo, foreign secretary to two former Presidents, former Senate majority leader; former executive, finance and budget secretary as well, two firsts came this year.
The first “first” was being conferred the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by Japanese Emperor Naruhito during a ceremony at the state room of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
The second “first” was being called a “national treasure,” by Sen. Loren Legarda, herself the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the 15th Congress, and the longest serving senator of the present Senate.
“You are a national treasure, Tito Bert,” Loren said at a dinner she hosted for the venerable Bert Romulo in her home in Makati, itself a showcase of Filipino heritage from handwoven fabrics to rustic indigenous accent pieces.
“In all my long life in public service, nobody has ever called me a national treasure. Until tonight. But you did, tonight, Loren, even if I do not deserve to be called national treasure, still I treasure the moment that I was called it,” a visibly touched Romulo, 79, said.
Romulo then told Loren, who twice topped the senatorial elections (in 1998 and 2007), that one day, she should be foreign affairs secretary herself. Loren’s term ends in five years, and she said, “Let’s see.” But her eyes sparkled.
Among those present were Romulo’s inspiration of over 60 years, his wife, Lovely, and children Katutubo art champion and Star columnist Mons Romulo, Central Bank Deputy Governor Berna Romulo Puyat and artist Erwin Romulo.
Also present — and awed — by the depth and breadth of Romulo’s knowledge and analysis of current affairs and geopolitics were US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson and her husband Aubrey; British Ambassador Laure Beaufils; South Korean Ambassador Kim Inchul and Nora Salazar of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Romulo, who was foreign secretary from 2004 to 2011, said after a toast offered to his good health by Loren, “During those seven years, I visited practically every corner of the globe. As foreign secretary, I met so many interesting people and among my fellow ministers, the best and the brightest.”
Over chardonnay, tinolang manok, bistek Hamachi and gising-gising ( a favorite of Ambassador Kim) and halo-halo, Romulo, sharp as ever, took out golden nuggets from his memory bank and shared them generously with the guests. Here are some tidbits:
“From the beginning Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary General from 2007 and 2016). and I became good friends as we worked together to deepen the mutual relationship between South Korea and the Philippines. The South Koreans never forgot the support the Philippines gave to South Korea during their struggle to keep the integrity and independence of their country. When Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was being considered for the top position of UN Secretary General, as his friend, I was rooting for him.” After his election to the esteemed post, he wrote a letter to Romulo thanking him for his support and saying he would personally welcome him and his wife Lovely during their then forthcoming visit to Seoul (all the way from New York!)
Romulo has only the highest respect for former US State Secretary Condoleeza Rice, who he believes, in the cognoscenti’s view, “could actually have been elected not only the first woman president but also the first black president of the United States” — before Barack Obama.
“I remember our ASEAN meeting in Vietnam during the time she was being seriously considered the Republican presidential nominee. I said to Condi then ‘I am delighted to see your name in the presidential race. This to us in the Philippines is democracy at its peak, when just several years ago in your city of Birmingham and other southern states equal rights was denied to the colored people. Yet, today (2005) you are under consideration as a serious contender for the highest office of the land’.”
He also has iron-clad memories of Hillary Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, who upon his invitation visited Manila after the destructive Ondoy typhoon. As an aside, Romulo said that the first to offer help to victims of Ondoy in his city of Pasig was the US Navy.
Romulo recalled giving the following remarks while Mrs. Clinton was in Manila. “In the issue that just came out, TIME calls the Secretary ‘the most powerful US public diplomat in quite some time.’ Let me add: also, the most popular foreign secretary the world over, and in no country more so than here in the Philippines. Here you are either a Hillary fan or a Hillary fanatic.”
Romulo had many more anecdotes to share, they could fill a book. But before the night was over, he told Loren, despite her many achievements, she should also aspire for another first and serve as foreign secretary after her term in the Senate. “Someday, who knows, you can even be a Ban Ki-moon?”
(You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)
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