The Romero-Romulo Family and SSAFI

By: Jenny De los Reyes | HS 1978

Today we celebrate the return of Trust, Faith, and Confidence in a new SSAFI from a family that is the epitome of love for country, fairness, and a diplomacy that begets peace. The recent generous donation of the Romero-Romulo family in the name of former SSAFI President Teresita Romero Romulo is to the Sustainability Fund that will support the programs and projects of SSAFI for a long time to come.

This tale of two families began from the friendship of two Filipino champions of Philippine governance and diplomacy ~ Jose E. Romero and Carlos P. Romulo. Hailing from Negros Oriental, Romero transferred from Silliman to UP to finish his bachelor’s degree in 1917. On July 17, 1918, Romero and Romulo led the first student protest march at UP to show support for the first Filipino university president, Ignacio Villamor. Both future statesmen made their names in the fields of literature, education, governance (under several presidents), and international diplomacy. In 1957, Romero’s daughter, Teresita, and Romulo’s son, Ricardo, would marry and produce two more Scholastican stalwarts, Alessandra “Sandie” Romulo-Squillantini (HS 1978) and Rowena “Weena” Romulo (HS 1980).

Tessie Romulo (HS 1949) was one of the SSAFI trustees that initiated in 1975, the legal conversion of the Alumnae Association (SSAA) to a foundation (SSAFI). She was also one of the main proponents of the SSRDF (St. Scholastica’s Research and Development Fund), established as the school’s scholarship fund in 1976. She served as SSAFI President from 1979 to 1981. Meanwhile, Atty. Dick Romulo served as Chairman of the Board of SSC, SSRDF, and SSM (School of Music). Following in the footsteps of her parents’ deep involvement in the school, Sandie was a SSAFI Board trustee from 2002 to August 2006 when she resigned due to a lamentable rift between the Romero-Romulo family and SSAFI’s leadership.

2006 was the Centennial Year of SSC and the SSAFI Board decided to vet nominations for the 100 Most Outstanding Scholasticans. Weena was nominated by her batch, HS 1980, and though her qualifications were stellar in the field of international finance, she was later told that her application fell through the cracks because she had used her lesser-known married name instead of “Romero-Romulo”.

The rift between SSAFI and the Romero-Romulo family lasted all of 16 years! But it, gratefully, ended on Nov. 30, 2022. Sandie and I took a quick break from our batch (HS 1978) Christmas party and in a small huddle, we talked about: the SSAFI we wanted, the difficulties of the first year installing reforms and fundraising to sustain old programs and projects while creating new ones to engage more alumnae, and responding to the few naysayers who were unable to move forward.

Sandie has always been a woman of few words but with a great passionate love for St. Scho. She told me the good news that the Romero-Romulo family was mending the broken bridge between us. Her brief remarks: we trust you, we are returning our donation, and do what you need to do to reach your goals!