| Rommel Romato | |
| Office: | Philippine Chargé d'affaires to Saudi Arabia |
| Termstart: | July 1, 2022 |
| Termend: | Present |
| Predecessor1: | Adnan V. Alonto (as Ambassador) |
| President: | Bongbong Marcos |
| Education: | University of the Philippines Diliman (BA), Linacre College, Oxford (MSt) |
| Spouse: | Dr Nizhreen Mapandi-Romato |
Rommel Romato is a Filipino diplomat. He has served as the Chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Republic of the Philippines to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since July 2022.[1] [2]
Rommel Romato was born in 1981 in Marawi City, Philippines. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of the Philippines Diliman where he became the first Muslim student to be elected chairperson of the UP Diliman University of Student Council.[3] [4] [5]
He gained a Master of Studies in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford, specialising in public international law under the tutelage of Professor Stefan Talmon. During his time at Oxford, he won the Ralph Feltham Prize for his research on maritime piracy around the Horn of Africa.[6]
Romato is a career member of the Foreign Service of the Philippines. He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2009. From 2012 to 2013 he worked at the United Nations' International Maritime Organization on secondment from the Philippine Government.[7] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London in 2013. From 2013 to 2019 he was a Third Secretary and Vice Consul and then Second Secretary and Consul at the Philippine Embassy in London.[8] [9] In 2021, he was assigned as Consul General at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.[10] [11]
Before joining the diplomatic service, he served as Legal Researcher of the Office of the Ombudsman of the Philippines from 2004 to 2009.[12]
Chargé d'affaires to Saudi Arabia
In September 2022, Romato received an official visit by Secretary Susan Ople of the Department of Migrant Workers.[13] During the visit, Secretary Ople held successful meetings with Saudi officials leading to the lifting of the Philippine Government's deployment ban of workers to Saudi Arabia and negotiations on improving working conditions of nearly a million overseas Filipino workers in the Kingdom.[14] He met with Secretary-General Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on February 26, 2023, to discuss ways to strengthen GCC-Philippines relations in areas such as security, welfare of migrant workers, trade, and tourism.[15]
On October 19–20, 2023, Chargé d'affaires Romato oversaw the official visit of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to Saudi Arabia to attend the inaugural ASEAN-GCC Summit in Riyadh.[16] During this visit, President Marcos also met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.[17]
He facilitated a Philippine Department of Trade and Industry-led business mission to Saudi Arabia that met chambers of commerce in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam in February 2024. During the trade mission, Chargé d'affaires Romato announced the establishment of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center and appointment of a Philippine commercial attaché in Riyadh in 2024.[18] In May 2024, the Supreme Court of the Philippines allowed, for the first time, overseas Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia to participate in the Shari'ah training seminar online and take the Shari'ah Bar exam in the Philippines, granting qualified examinees financial assistance for travel and accommodations.[19] [20] This decision was based on a request from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.[21]
Romato welcomed Secretary Raphael Lotilla of the Department of Energy to Riyadh in October 2024 for his meetings with his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud and Minister of Investment Khalid al-Falih and for the signing of the first memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy cooperation between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.[22] [23]
Romato is married to physician Nizhreen Mapandi-Romato. They have four children.