Ex-Tacloban mayor ‘Bejo’ Romualdez laid to rest at family mausoleum in Olot
TACLOBAN CITY—Former Tacloban City mayor Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez was laid to rest on Saturday at the Romualdez family mausoleum in their ancestral town of Barangay Olot of Tolosa town in Leyte province.
Before his burial, a requiem Mass was held at the Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum in Tacloban City, where the family ancestral home once stood, and where his remains were brought on Tuesday from Metro Manila, where he succumbed to a lingering illness.
The Mass was concelebrated by several priests led by Palo Archbishop John Du, who described the 91-year-old former mayor as “a friend to priests and bishops.”
Archbishop Du lauded Romualdez for his “love and dedication to the people of Tacloban” and for his accomplishments during his nine-year tenure as city mayor, which ended in 2007.
Romualdez’s bronze casket, draped with the Philippine flag, was placed on a flower-decked funeral carriage that passed through key landmarks in the city, including Tacloban City Hall and the Eye Referral Building, which he owned and had envisioned as a specialty center for eye care. The funeral convoy then proceeded to Olot, about 26 kilometers away, for the final interment.
‘Served the city well’
Despite the overcast skies, several former city officials, employees and supporters joined the procession to pay their final respects to the former mayor, who passed away on Oct. 17 in a Manila hospital due to multiple organ failure.
At around 12:30 p.m., Romualdez was interred at the family mausoleum where his parents, Vicente Orestes and Remedios Trinidad Romualdez, were also buried. He was carried by uniformed soldiers during the final rites.
Romualdez was the youngest brother of former first lady Imelda Marcos, mother of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Neither the President nor Mrs. Marcos was present at the burial, although both had visited the wake at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City earlier in the week. A cousin of the President, former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, or any member of his family, was not around during the burial.
Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez became emotional as he thanked those who came to honor his father.
“Thank you all for your support. My father served the Filipino people well,” Mayor Romualdez said in a brief message. He was joined by his siblings and children, led by his son, Tacloban City Vice Mayor Raymund Romualdez.
Serving as Tacloban’s mayor from 1998 to 2007, Bejo Romualdez is remembered for ushering in the city’s period of economic growth—encouraging investments, opening the city to shopping malls and spearheading major infrastructure projects, including the Tacloban Convention Center (Astrodome), public market and new bus terminal, among others.
