SENADO 2016, sino nga ba?

Romulo Roman

Liberal Party 

Born: February 28, 1967

 

Roman Tecson Romulo is now on his third term as the Representative for the Lone District of Pasig City. He is the current Chairperson of the Higher and Technical Education Committee. He is most known for authoring Republic Act 10648 or the Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014. This law provides scholarship programs to public high school students that are part of the top ten of their graduating class.

 

     Aside from the Iskolar ng Bayan Act, Romulo has also authored 56 house bills and co-authored 74 of them throughout his political career. The bills that Romulo usually author and co-author are bills that concerns education, public health, culture, public infrastructure development, and the environment. He is also a supporter of the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) in the country.

 

     He has also spearheaded building of classrooms and educational facilities, provided scholarships, medical missions, health and livelihood projects, and diplomatic assistance.

 

     Romulo finished his primary education at Ateneo De Manila University. He then transferred to PAREF Southridge School for his secondary education. He took up a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at University of the Philippines-Diliman in college and then pushed through with his law degree at the College of Law of the same university, University of the Philippines-Diliman. Lyceum Northwestern University and University of Baguio, both honoris causa, gave him a degree of Doctor of Public Administration and Doctor of Humanities. He is married to former Valenzuela council member Shalani Soledad-Romulo.

 

     Apart from being a public servant, Romulo is also a lawyer. He practiced at Quisumbing Torres & Evangelista Law Offices and Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan Law Offices as an associate and a senior associate for a few years before partaking in the world of Philippine politics. He also went to Rome Italy for training courses in different legal fields at the International Development Law Institute.

 

     Romulo is a strong advocate of “Edukasyon Para Sa Lahat”.

 

STANDS ON SOME OF THE PROMINENT POLITICAL ISSUES TODAY

 

• On the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)

 

     There is really no interview that evidently tells what Romulo’s stand is on the Bangsamoro Basic Law. He did however said in an article this, “Let us not allow peace to be a casualty of the failure of Congress to pass the BBL. Let us continue to implement what is doable under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)”.

 

• On the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill)

                       

     Romulo voted ‘no’ against the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill. 

 

• On the dispute over the West Philippine Sea

 

     “Right, and not might, should prevail,” This is what Romulo said about the current dispute over the West Philippine Sea. According to him, doing the legal and diplomatic way is the most effective approach to solve the current territorial dispute.

 

• On corruption

 

     In an article, Romulo said that the constitutional bodies of the Sandiganbayan, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Audit (COA) would get an increase in funding in the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2016 for greater public accountability and absolute transparency. “The struggle for reforms is never done, because the temptation to commit fraud and abuse is always there. This is why we have to invest constantly in fighting corruption and promoting clean governance,” he also added.

 

• On poverty reduction

 

     According to Romulo, in order to help in reducing the poverty being experienced in our country, the government needs to raise the SSS pensions of senior citizens and to cut the income tax rates. “Raising pensions and cutting income taxes are immediate ways by which government can intervene to ease the pain of poverty experienced daily by many of our people. This is why people are angry and disappointed at the way things have turned out,” said Romulo.