Alberto Romualdez
Dr. Alberto "Quasi" del Gallego Romualdez Jr. (14 September 1940 in Manila – 14 October 2013 in ib) was a Filipino doctor and was locally known for his work as the Secretary of Health for the Philippines from 1998 to 2001. He was also the President of Friendly Care Foundation, Inc. Early life. Romualdez was the eldest of the seven children of Alberto Zialcita Romualdez Sr., a former secretary general of the World Medical Association, and Covadonga del Gallego, a former chairman of the Pathology Department of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital. Among his siblings are footballer Johnny  Romualdez and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez. He was a scion of the prominent Romualdez political clan of Manila and Leyte. His uncle Daniel Jr. was House Speaker from 1956 to 1962 while his grandfather Miguel served as Manila mayor during the American colonial period and Leyte assemblyman during the Commonwealth Era. A granduncle, Norberto Sr., served as justice of the Supreme Court. The late secretary is also a distant nephew of former First Lady Imelda Marcos; his second cousins include Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines President Benjamin Philip Romualdez  Jr., former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., former Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez. Education. Romualdez graduated from the University of the Philippines as Doctor of Medicine, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the Ateneo de Manila University. He had further education in the United States; Tumor Immunology at the University of Connecticut and Membrane Biophysics at the Harvard Medical School. Career. His started working at the Department of Health as a Medical Adviser (1979–1982) for the Minister for Health. He was also the director of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine  between 1981 and 1984. Personal life and death. Romualdez is survived by his wife Peachy and their children. Romualdez died at the age of 73 on 14 October 2013 in Manila Doctors Hospital two days after a heart attack. The exact cause of death was not released by the media, but there were reports of his suffering from lymphoma.