The Story of the Man Through His Child Experiences

Seeing the man today will somehow give you a glimpse of his childhood.  Some would say that Roman Romulo is charming, a good speaker, a gentleman and a for-the-people type of individual.  To translate that in a child-image, you can then say that he is a charming charmer who is well-mannered. 

Not often would one have the opportunity to talk with the best resource person there is when it comes to how Congressman Roman Romulo, now running for a senatorial seat, was a child.  The meeting may have been truly unplanned but Mrs. Lovely Tecson-Romulo, ever so gracious, was kind enough to fit us in her schedule and share the story of her son.

Mrs. Lovely Tecson-Romulo,
mother of Cong. Roman Romulo

What is the story of Roman’s childhood? 

Born from a family whose roots dates back in local history, Roman is truly a service oriented individual; always there to listen to the concerns of the people of Pasig, ready to find ways to help others and willing to have just a few hours of sleep just to help those who needs assistance, so say Mrs. Lovely. She recalls the time that she would find people lined up outside their house waiting to have a moment with Cong. Roman.  Mrs. Lovely would candidly mention the time that her plants would nearly got trampled on during his annual community reach-out – something that Cong. Roman has been doing for 8 years now; all out of his own pocket.

This practice of the congressman does not surprise Mrs. Lovely.  She recalls a time then that as a student, Roman was quite a sports person that in one of his out-of-the-country competition of squash he gifted her, upon his return, a crystal figurine out of his own allowance.  The act alone was a treat but the fact that the child Roman took time to save-up a portion of his allowance to buy a gift that he knows would truly be appreciated and kept is a sign of the things he would do in the future.

As a student, Roman truly values education according to his mother.  He is good in his academics and was even able to compete and won an elocution contest held in Ateneo De Manila University. One thing that Cong. Roman doesn’t tolerate is bullying because he knows how it feels to be a victim.  Like any other parents, Mrs. Lovely was not aware of the finer things that is happening her child’s life when in school.  It was through a mother of a classmate that she got an inkling and decided to ask the child Roman what the story is and that was when she found out that he was being bullied.  Instead of confronting the bully, the child Roman opted to skip classes just to avoid another encounter.  This led them to transfer him to Southridge where he finished his formative years in education still in good standing.

This background of educational importance led him to create bills and push it into laws thus the birth of the UNIFAST and ISKOLAR ng Bayan.

As a baby, he is what one can be considered as a babe bathed in love; love from his parents, his doctor, the people around him when he was born.

Born in 1967 by unfortunate circumstances, he contacted a virus that became an epidemic in the hospital that he was in at that time.  From an initial weight of 12 lbs, he slowly lost half and then another 2 lbs was gone due his illness.  He cannot take in any type of milk. It was a downhill battle for him for six months.  But the people around him never gave up!  His pediatrician at that time, the late Dr. Fe Del Mundo, truly made her medical oath as a personal battle cry during these early stages of baby Roman’s life.  Prayers never stopped pouring in.  Alternative source of milk was tried.  A wet nurse was even hired to give him nutrient to no avail.  It was believed that he will not survive the ordeal.

By the grace of the Father and that of the persistence of the late Dr. Fe Del Mundo, baby Roman slowly accepted nourishment into his system.  What weight he lost was slowly being gained back again.  What love he gained was showered still, especially that of a late aunt of Mrs. Lovely Romulo who candidly mentioned that the crease on the baby’s head as “crown yan” (that’s a crown) – a sign of great things to come and to be achieved by the child.

His baby experience may not be similar to most but it sure did started painting things as a fighter and a survivor.

His bid for political seat started as a surprise for the family for no one knew that he was running.  He may have lost the first time but was available to win the hearts of his future constituents thus earning the lone congressional seat of the City of Pasig.  Now he is trying to win the heart and trust of the whole nation as he try to win a senatorial seat.

Will he win?  Honestly, only FATE can say but one thing is for sure no matter what, he will fight the good fight like that when he was a baby getting his new breathe in life.