Rommel Romato

Rommel Romato is a Filipino diplomat and the current Consul General of the Republic of the Philippines in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.^[1] He previously served as the Chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Republic of the Philippines to Saudi Arabia from July 2022 to February 2025.^[2][3]

Rommel Romato
Philippine Consul General in Jeddah
Incumbent
Assumed office February 14, 2025
President	Bongbong Marcos
Preceded by	Edgar Tomas Auxilian
Philippine Chargé d'affaires to Saudi Arabia
In office July 1, 2022 – February 6, 2025
President	Bongbong Marcos
Preceded by	Adnan Alonto (as Ambassador)
Succeeded by	Raymond Balatbat (as Ambassador)
Personal details
Born	1981 (age 43–44)
Spouse	Dr Nizhreen Mapandi-Romato
Education	University of the Philippines Diliman (BA), Linacre College, Oxford (MSt)

Early life and education

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.^[4][5][6]

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.^[4] He also attended The Hague Academy of International Law.

Career

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.^[4]

Chargé d'affaires to Saudi Arabia

In September 2022, Romato received an official visit by Secretary Susan Ople of the Department of Migrant Workers.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

On October 19–20, 2023, Chargé d'affaires Romato oversaw the official visit of President Bongbong Marcos to Saudi Arabia to attend the inaugural ASEAN-GCC Summit in Riyadh.^[15] During this visit, President Marcos also met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.^[16]

Chargé d'affaires Romato facilitated Philippine Department of Trade and Industry-led business missions to Saudi Arabia from 2024 to 2025 and spearheaded the establishment of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) at the Embassy, along with the appointment of a Philippine commercial attaché in Riyadh on November 1, 2024.^{[17] [18]}

Romato (right) with Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud who hosted a luncheon in honor of Philippine Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla (left), October 14, 2024.

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.^[20]

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.^[21][22]

Personal life

Romato is married to physician Nizhreen Mapandi-Romato. They have four children.