Bobby Romulo

It has taken me a while for the reality of Bobby Romulo’s recent death to sink in. I was not surprised with the news. Bobby had not been well for a long time. Still, losing a friend I exchange views and ideas with means he will be missed.

I had covered his father, the great Carlos P. Romulo when he was UP president and later as foreign affairs secretary. CPR had a way of charming people that endeared him to the diplomatic press corps. His sons didn’t seem to have inherited CPR’s charms.

So, I was surprised when Bobby Romulo sent me an email many years ago after he was no longer the foreign secretary of FVR. He commented on a column I wrote and said he agreed with my views.

That started a decade of mostly virtual friendship. He would send me text and Viber messages as he sounded me out on issues of the day. He even sent me advance copies of some of his PhilStar columns.

Then he invited me for lunch at his office at the Zuellig Building in Makati with some of the scientists working at the Ateneo Observatory. Bobby was concerned about the impact of climate change on our ability to avert disastrous consequences for our population centers.

One other advocacy dear to his heart is providing  adequate healthcare in the municipalities outside of metro areas. He invited me to join a seminar to hear how the Zuellig Foundation is training mayors and other local officials to perform the devolved function of healthcare.

When the pandemic struck, he organized a Zoom forum on digital readiness for the new normal, jointly sponsored by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation and the Makati Business Club. He asked me to join the panel.

One of his other big advocacy is the creation of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT). His long stint with IBM here and abroad made him see the importance of being up-to-date with technology if we want to be competitive.

No wonder he was so disappointed after Duterte appointed a former senator with no background in technology to be DICT secretary.

In recent months, Bobby was a man on fire with a mission to see the country have the right leadership. He thought we deserve better.

Bobby knew a lot depends on who the next president would be. He found hope in only one of the many aspirants and she was not rating well in the surveys. But he still pinned his hopes on her.

In a letter he sent to friends he called Urgent Appeal, he said we cannot have six more years of the dark age. He earlier urged his friends in high places to be generous  in contributing to the campaign of his candidate.

“Do not put priority on the ‘winnability’ of a candidate, but rather on someone who will bring back competence, dignity, civility and true love of country and her people. Together we can make that candidate winnable…

“At the age of 82, I assure you I have no personal agenda, political or otherwise. In truth, it is my fervent prayer for the return of democracy and its institutions…

“Thank you for the messages and prayers. It is my hope that Divine Intervention will assist me in my medical challenge, even as I devoutly pray that HE will bring enlightenment to our citizenry…”

As a former foreign affairs secretary, his one big frustration is the servile attitude of the current administration towards China.

Bobby felt that the Duterte administration “has squandered the weight of global public opinion in our favor following the ruling of the UN arbitration court invalidating China’s claim on the South China Sea by meekly standing by while she continues encroached on our territory and denying our fishermen access to traditional fishing grounds.”

He was critical of what he called Duterte’s “hasty termination of the VFA without regard for its consequences to the security and economic benefits from our relations with our long-time ally the United States.

“It has undermined our credibility to resist China’s expansionist ambitions in the West Philippine Sea…

“The abrupt termination of the VFA has deprived us the opportunity to demand a vigorous review to address any iniquities or deficiencies in its provisions as Foreign Secretary Locsin and Defense Secretary Lorenzana have urged…

“EDCA and VFA operationalizes the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) in times of peace and provides the springboard should the MDT be invoked. They have been highly instrumental in our ability to respond effectively to natural disasters. The battle of Marawi would also not have been won without intelligence and materiel facilitated by these agreements.

“I am all for an independent foreign policy, which I see as being friends to everyone and enemies to none, and not eschewing old and trusted friends for new, but unproven friends.”

Bobby also lamented the Duterte administration’s use of the legal system to go against their enemies.

These, he wrote, have put the Philippines in an unfavorable light in the eyes of businessmen, investors, tourists, and foreign governments to our detriment. The backlash is already being felt and it takes several years to change perceptions.

“But there is more at stake here than investor and tourist dollars – our democracy and the rule of law, which are still fragile even at this point in time…”

As I said, he was on fire the past few months, almost as if he knew his time was almost up, and he had to tell his dad CPR, he did his part to fight for democracy and free enterprise as best as he could. Bobby was a patriot to the end.

CPR would be proud of Bobby who looks almost exactly like his father. You can rest now, Bobby, the baton has been passed to all of us you left behind.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco