Leyte town opens renovated park named after Marcos’ grand uncle

Burauen City Mayor Juanito Renomeron | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the Local Government Unit of Burauen

TACLOBAN CITY — The municipal government of Burauen in Leyte opened on June 14 a renovated park named after the grand uncle of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The park was named after Norberto Romualdez Sr., a native of the town whose brother Vicente Orestes is the father of former First Lady Imelda Marcos, the mother of President Marcos Jr.

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Mayor Juanito Renomeron led the launching of the newly refurbished park located at the town center of Burauen.

“This launch symbolizes the strong commitment of our local government unit, along with the municipal tourism office, to preserving and promoting our cultural heritage. While we provide platforms for our local artists today, it is imperative that we continue to value and acknowledge distinguished people of Burauen from the past,” Renomeron told local officials and residents during the event.

Last March 24, the local government approved a resolution declaring every June 6 as Norberto Romualdez Sr. Day and naming him a local hero.

Carmela Corazon Crebillo, municipal tourism officer, explained that the 177-square-meter park, adjacent to the town’s Roman Catholic church, was initially built in 1975 by the municipal government to celebrate Romualdez’s 100th birthday.

It is located at the corner of Sta. Ana and Ave Maria Streets, the same spot where Romualdez built his house.

The local government has appropriated P500,000 to fund the park’s restoration, which started last May and was completed on June 8 of this year with the monument of Romualdez as the centerpiece.

The park now has a pavilion, some concrete benches, and a path walk.

Norberto Romualdez Sr. was born in Burauen on June 6, 1875, the eldest son of Daniel Romualdez and Trinidad Lopez.

Romualdez graduated with honors from Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1895 and became a high school teacher at the University of Santo Tomas before the Philippine Revolution. He studied law during the American Occupation, passing the bar exams in 1903.

The local tourism office records describe Romualdez as an educator, jurist, writer, and statesman, earning the distinction “favorite son of Leyte.”

In 1908, he wrote a Visayan grammar book for American soldiers stationed in Leyte. The following year, he founded the Sanghiran san Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte (Academy of the Visayan Language of Samar and Leyte) to promote and intellectualize Waray-Waray.

Romualdez was fluent in Spanish, English, and Cebuano. He was a renowned writer, educator, lawyer, painter, and a delegate to the 1934-1935 Constitutional Convention.

He was one of the “Seven Wise Men” who drafted the 1935 Constitution for the Philippine Commonwealth and served as a Philippine Supreme Court associate justice during the American Period.

He died of pneumonia in Palapag town, Northern Samar on November 4, 1941, at the age of 66.