In that sleepy hometown that produced a great statesman, Romulo traveled without even leaving town. He went to the library.
"I found out that when you read, you improve yourself tremendously," says Romulo, the cabinet member whom President Arroyo calls the "Bedrock of Morality and Integrity."
Romulo says. "There are many places that you can never reach by travel but you will be able to reach by reading. Aside from knowledge, there is pleasure in reading itself."
This lifelong romance with books – particularly biographies and about history – he shares with his wife Lovely and has passed on to his children Lupe, Roman, Mons, Berna and Erwin. As members of his family would attest, when his kids were younger, he would have them recite Edgar Allan Poe before dinner.
These days, he has very little personal time outside of government work but you will never catch him without a book. On his bedside table lies his current read: Closer Than Brothers by Alfred McCoy, which is about "the Class ’40 and ’41 vis-a-vis the Class ’71 of the PMA."
Great men and their stories inspire him a lot. One of the first books he read which made a strong impact on his young life was Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy.
"I read about American presidents. I have many favorites like Kennedy, Nixon, Truman, and John Adams. Also, war books such as books about General McArthur." It’s not just about men that he likes to read about nor does he read only male authors (though his list is such). Romulo also reads stories of women who inspire people. He read about Shirley Maclaine’s 30-day pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in her book The Camino.
For Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, reading is its own reward. And that it’s not only a journey of the mind but, to paraphrase Maclaine, it is also a "journey of the spirit."
2. Profiles In Courage by John F. Kennedy
3. Prime Ministers of England by PM Harold Wilson
4. Asi Cayo Alfonso XIII by Miguel Maura
5. American Caesar: Douglas Macarthur by William Manchester
6. Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmund Rostand
7. Four Tragedies by William Shakespeare
8. The Second World War (Volume I, II, III, IV, V, VI) by Winston Churchill
9. WITNESS by Whittaker Chambers
10. Chief Justice: A Biography Of Earl Warren by Ed Cray
11. Truman by David McCullough
It’s a bit difficult to choose just 10 books, because I love reading. I may not have as much time as I would like to read now, but I still try to read at least a few chapters a week to relax.
Aside from William Shakespeare’s Four Tragedies and to a certain extent Edmund Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, all the books I have chosen are biographies or autobiographies of people with strong convictions because their morality and selflessness serve as an example to others.
A Man For All Seasons is about Sir Thomas More, a man who refused to compromise his principles even for his king. Even the way it is written is a joy to read and I have even on some occasions, quoted from this book when writing my speeches while I was still at the Senate.
Profiles In Courage by John F. Kennedy is about eight US Senators who at one point or another in their Senate careers took a stand on what they morally felt was right, regardless if it was against the popular view or not. These men exhibited political integrity and honor and had the courage to stand up for what they believed was right, even if it put their political careers on the line. So with the book of former Prime Minister of England Harold Wilson, aptly entitled A Prime Minister on Prime Ministers.
Asi Cayo Alfonso XIII of Miguel Maura is about Spain’s King Alfonso XIII who had to flee from Madrid in 1931 as the wave of republicanism swept the country. He remained in exile until his death in 1941. Of King Alfonso’s character, Winston Churchill said, "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because as has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others. Courage, physical and moral, King Alfonso has proved on every occasion of personal danger or political stress."
Aside from the fact that he played a great role in the liberation of the Philippines, I believe General Douglas MacArthur to be one of the greatest military strategists and leaders who ever lived, and the book American Caesar by William Manchester is not only an engrossing read, but manages to give us both his best side as well as the flaws of the MacArthur legend.
While Edmund Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac is just one of the many fictional versions based on the life of the historical Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, it is the language Rostand used in interpreting the imagery of the times and the circumstances of the play which is most striking. A true hero in literature, Cyrano’s insistence on meeting and living life on his own terms, his strength of conviction, loyalty and chivalry are qualities to be emulated.
William Shakespeare’s Four Tragedies – Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth — are rich in language and experience. Shakespeare’s plays will always remain timeless and a good read for everyone.
The Second World War by Sir Winston Churchill is to me the most comprehensive narrative of the events that led to World War II and its aftermath, narrated to us no less by one of its principal players. And Churchill’s eloquence as a writer makes it all the more vivid.
Reading all six volumes will make us realize the value of having good and strong leaders – if not for Churchill, who knows, but Hitler and the Nazis might not be just part of world history but of present reality? And it also shows us that as a nation, we must always be vigilant, we must watch out for those who espouse and impose fascism and totalitarianism as a form of governance.
In fact, on a smaller scale, Witness, Whittaker Chamber’s autobiographical account of his joining the communist party, the hardships he went through when he broke with the party, and of his fight against communism, could be paralleled to Churchill’s war against Nazism.
Written seven years after the end of World War II, this book once again warns us that we should not allow social or political lethargy to fall upon us. Alger Hiss, who Chambers accused of being a spy for the Soviet Union, was to the public then not only a full-fledged member of Washington’s political establishment, but was also on his way to a brilliant diplomatic career. Chambers, on the other hand, was maligned and scorned for his revelations. Yet his claims against the Communist Party have withstood the test of time over those of Hiss and his supporters as Chambers account provides the reader details that simply could not have been made up.
Chief Justice, Ed Cray’s biography of Chief Justice Earl Warren, successfully shows the reader the Justice’s enormous sense of fairness. Once again, we see another man, driven not by ideologies, but by moral values... Though a former Republican governor of California, Warren, when appointed to the Supreme Court, led it in an increasingly liberal direction, bolstering the rights on individuals and committing the federal government to acting in support of them. While for the time period, 1953-1969, his rulings were considered controversial, time has proven the wisdom behind them.
Then, there is David McCullough’s book Truman, which won the 1993 Pulitzer award, a historical evaluation of President Harry Truman’s presidency. Though at first called an "accidental President," his election for a second term proved that the Americans as a whole approved of his policy and actions, in spite of some claims that except for brief periods, Truman was considered an unpopular president.
Through a presidency wrought with controversial issues like the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan, his establishing anti-communism as the foundation of American foreign policy and sending US troops into the Korean War, McCullough argues that time and history have validated most of Truman’s decisions. Now, on hindsight, and especially as we see the results of these decisions, we can say that he was "a figure of world stature, both a great and good man, and a great American President."