Martin Romualdez: Seasoned Lawyer

Martin Romualdez is a lawyer and current president of the Philippine Constitution Association (PHILCONSA), the most prestigious association of defenders of the Constitution in the country. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and studied law at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He also holds a Certificate for Special Studies in Administration and Management from Harvard University. Currently serving his third consecutive term as representative for the 1st District of Leyte, he is responsible for a host of infrastructure projects that has spurred development in his home province.

Romualdez shares a light moment with constituents from his hometown.

Romualdez is aggressive in pushing for more national resources to be directed outside Metro Manila. He is of the belief that improving the countryside would encourage more investors and businesses to come, thereby creating more jobs. He championed and continues to champion small businesses and industries in his district and fights to improve the plight of disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors of society such as persons with disabilities (PWDs), overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), senior citizens, and the sickly and the poor, among others. To date, he has sponsored scholarships and extended financial aid to almost 40,000 students, as well as granted healthcare aid to almost 700,000 beneficiaries.

It is during the province’s most harrowing ordeal, when Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda) hit in 2013, that he rediscovered the Filipino’s most enduring trait: “malasakit” or compassion for his fellow man, especially his countrymen. From then on, Romualdez wanted to inform all his efforts as a lawmaker with a dimension of “malasakit,” as his way of paying it forward and honoring the efforts that have given Leytenos the strength and means to rebuild their homes and reclaim their lives. This was most evident in his push to exempt persons with disabilities (PWDs) from paying value-added tax (VAT); to expand and reform the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program; to create a separate Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management devoted to all matters related to calamities; and to promote decentralization in government processes, which entails strengthening local government units (LGCs) in terms of autonomy and share in the national budget. As he famously quipped in a recent senatorial debate, “Public service without ‘malasakit’ is just a job.”

Culling inspiration from Yolanda and the message of the Holy Father Pope Francis during his historic visit in Tacloban, Romualdez calls for “malasakit” not only in times of disaster or tragedy but in our day-to-day lives.