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OCTOBER 20, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 41 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK
'the General' Calls It Quits: MANILA, DECEMBER 1983 Carlos PeNa Romulo, probably Asia's most influential and respected diplomat, once recalled with a laugh that he had been tagged "a deodorant" of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos. But when the man who had served every Philippine president — starting with pre-independence leader Manuel Quezon — finally quit as foreign secretary in 1983, he did not hide his disgust. Two years after lifting martial law, Marcos had asked Romulo to sign an advertisement designed for U.S. publications. It reinforced the official line that the president's most vocal opponent, Benigno Aquino, had been assassinated by a communist hitman. Romulo, 84, declined, then resigned. "I am heartsick," he told Asiaweek, tearful with anger, right. "My work of 40 years to build up the prestige of our country internationally has been spoiled and torpedoed by events beyond my control. I cannot accept that." Romulo's distaste was echoed by the Philippine people, and his withdrawal from the regime gave impetus to the bloodless revolution of 1986 that finally forced Marcos to flee. Romulo's name initially came to international prominence as World War II loomed. The first Filipino to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism (as editor of The Manila Times, he predicted Japan's wartime assault on Southeast Asia), he became a cabinet minister-in-exile after the Japanese invasion and an aide to Pacific commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Famously, Romulo urged upon MacArthur the line: "I shall return." And duly, when MacArthur splashed ashore at Leyte Gulf to lead the U.S. assault, Romulo splashed home with him. An enduring symbol of Asian nationalism, Romulo became a co-founder of the United Nations, insisting that its charter endorse the independence of colonial countries. He was the first Asian president of the General Assembly in 1949-50 and served three terms as Security Council president. Only a Soviet veto blocked his nomination to the post of secretary general. A five-star general in the U.S. and Philippine armies, Romulo also was a leader of the 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia — a notable early effort at Third World solidarity. Lee Kuan Yew once called him "indestructible." When news of Romulo's death in 1985 reached Marcos, he eulogized: "Men of this stature survive even their own mortality."
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