Carlos P. Romulo

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Gen. Romulo (3d from R), as President of the United Nations General Assembly, talks with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Carlos Peña Rómulo (b. 14 January 1899, Camiling, Tarlac, Philippines - d. 15 December 1985, Manila, Philippines) was a Filipino diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He is the co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines, (BA) 1918; Columbia University, New York City, (MA), 1921, Received from Notre Dame University, Indiana, Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), 1935; Rollins College, Florida, Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa), 1946; University of Athens, Greece, Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa), 1948, University of the Philippines, Honorary Doctor of 'Laws, April 1949.

He served eight Philippine presidents from President Manuel Quezon to President Ferdinand Marcos as a cabinet member or as the country’s representative to the United States and to the United Nations.

He served as the President of the Fourth Session of United Nations General Assembly from 1949-1950, and chairman of the United Nations Security Council. He had served with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific, was Ambassador to the United States, and became the first Asian to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1942.

He served as Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States Congress from 1944 to 1946. He was the signatory for the Philippines to the United Nations Charter when it was founded in 1946. He was the Philippines' Secretary (Minister from 1973 to 1984) of Foreign Affairs under President Elpidio Quirino from 1950 to 1952, under President Diosdado Macapagal from 1963 to 1964 and under President Ferdinand Marcos from 1968 to 1984.

In his career in the United Nations, he was a strong advocate of human rights, freedom and decolonization. He was a nominated to the position of United Nations Secretary-General in 1953.

Romulo, in all, wrote and published 18 books, which included The United (novel), I Walked with Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, Mother America and I See the Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).

He died, at 86, in Manila on 15th of December 1985 and was buried the Heroes’ Cemetery (Libingan ng mga Bayani). He was honoured as the Philippines’ greatest diplomat in the 20th Century and perhaps in the history. In 1980, he was extolled by United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim as "Mr. United Nations" for his valuable services to the United Nations and his dedication to freedom and world peace.

1 Awards and decorations
2 Controversy
3 See also
4 External link
5 References

[edit] Awards and decorations

Romulo is perhaps the most decorated Filipino in history, which includes 82 honorary degrees from different international institutions and universities and 74 decorations from foreign countries:

Philippine Congressional Quezon Service Cross, April 17, 1951
Philippine National Artist in Literature, 1982
United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, January 12, 1984
Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo Award
Distinguished Service Star of the Philippines
Philippine Gold Gross
Philippine Silver Star
Purple Heart
Presidential Unit-Citation with Two Oak Leaf Clusters
Philippine Legion of Honor (Commander)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix from the Greek Government
Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos Manuel do Cespedes from the Republic of Cuba
Pulitzer Prize in International Journalism, 1942
World Government News First Annual Gold Nadal Award (for work in the United Nations for peace and world government), March 1947
Princeton University- Woodrow Wilson Memorial Foundation Gold Medal award ("in recognition Of his contribution to public life"), May 1947
International Benjamin Franklin Society's Gold Medal (for “distinguished world statesmanship in 1947”), January 1948
Freeman of the City of Plymouth, England, October 1948
United Nations Peace Medal
World Peace Award
Four Freedoms Peace Award
Named in the 100 Most Prominent Rotarians in the world
Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit, July 3, 1949

[edit] Controversy

Rómulo's heroism and legacy, however, was challenged back in the late 1980s when chemist-turned-historian Pío Andrade, Jr. published a well-documented book, The Fooling of America, The Untold Story of Carlos P. Romulo, which exposed the alleged lies (including the veracity of some of his awards and decorations) of Rómulo during his stint as an important Filipino leader from World War II up to the Marcos regime. However, according to the author himself (in the introduction to the book's revised edition), his book was "ignored by the press, the Philippine Congress, and the National Historical Institute, all of whom should have taken action to remove Romulo from the pantheon of Filipino heroes. ^{[citation needed]}