Yedda Romualdez

In this Filipino name for married women, the birth middle name or maternal family name is Mendoza, the birth surname or paternal family name is Kittilsvedt, and the marital name is Romualdez.
Yedda Romualdez
Official portrait, 2025
Member of the
Philippine House of Representatives
for Tingog Party List
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 30, 2019
Member of the
Philippine House of Representatives
from Leyte's 1st district
In office
June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2019
Preceded byMartin Romualdez
Succeeded byMartin Romualdez
Personal details
BornYedda Marie Mendoza Kittilsvedt
(1973-10-22) October 22, 1973 (age 52)[1]
Cebu City, Philippines
PartyTingog Sinirangan (2019–present)
Lakas (2009–present)
Spouse
​
(m. 1999)​
Children4 (including Ferdinand Martin Jr. and Andrew Julian)
EducationCebu Doctors' College (BS)

Yedda Marie Mendoza Kittilstvedt-Romualdez (Tagalog pronunciation: [ɾoˈmwɐldɛs], born October 22, 1973) is a Filipina politician, beauty queen, and nurse. She is currently serving as the representative of Tingog Party List since 2019. She had previously represented Leyte's 1st District from 2016 to 2019. Her consecutive terms in Congress have been questioned, but were approved by the Commission on Elections, citing the legality of the substitution.[2][3][4] She is the wife of Martin Romualdez, who served as the Speaker of the House from 2022 to 2025.

She represented the Philippines at the Miss International 1996 pageant, where she placed in the Top 15.

Pageantry

Romualdez first competed in the Supermodel of the World-Philippines pageant in 1991 where she was first runner-up to Lorena Pangan.[5] She competed in the Binibining Pilipinas pageant in 1996, and became the country's representative in that year's Miss International competition in Japan, where she placed in the Top 15.[6]

Political career

Romualdez started her stint in politics in 2016 as the representative of the first district of Leyte in the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 2016 to 2019. [7][8] She then became the first nominee of Tingog Sinirangan (now Tingog) Party List, and has served as its representative in Congress beginning in 2019. Her advocacy focused on women and children, as she served as the Chairperson of the Committee on Welfare of Children in the House of Representatives (2019-2022).[9] Romualdez authored and led the passage of several child-centric landmark legislations such as: The Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act (RA No. 11930), Increasing the Age for Determining the Commission of Statutory Rape (RA No. 11648), Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act (RA No. 11861), Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (RA No. 11862), Foundling Recognition and Protection Act (RA No. 11767), Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act (RA No. 11642), Child Marriage Prohibition (RA No. 11596), the Parent Effectiveness Service Program Act (RA No. 11908), Alternative Learning System Act (RA No. 11510), Early Childhood Care and Development System (RA No. 12199), Institutionalizing Good Manner and Right Conduct and Values Education in the K-12 (RA No. 11476).[10][11][12][13] Romualdez was re-elected in 2022 (19th Congress) where she served as the Chairperson for the Committee on Accounts of the House of Representatives, maintaining and up-keeping the integrity of the institution through its internal operations.[14] Meanwhile, during this term, Tingog was repeatedly ranked top performing Party List in national polls, with Romualdez ranking Number 1 Top Performing Party List Representative.[15][16][1] In 2025, Romualdez opted to become the sixth nominee of Tingog Party List, with her son Andrew Julian Romualdez as the first nominee.[17] The Party List gained three seats in the House of Representatives (most number of seats possible), ranking third top Party List (second, discounting the later disqualified Duterte Youth Party List) in the 2025 Elections.[18][19][20] Following the resignation of Tingog's third to fifth nominees (Marie Josephine Diana Calatrava, Alexis Yu, and Paul Richard Muncada), Romualdez was elevated to third nominee and reassumed her seat on July 18, 2025, eighteen days after the end of her previous term.[21]

Personal life

Romualdez' father is from Norway and her mother is from Cebu.[22] She graduated in nursing from the Cebu Doctors' College in Cebu City[5] and is a registered nurse.[6]

She and businessman Martin Romualdez married under civil rites in Hong Kong in November 1999, with a church wedding following at Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati, on February 4, 2001.[23] Martin served as the 24th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2022 to 2025 and has served as a congressman from Leyte since 2019.[24] They have four children. Their sons Ferdinand Martin Romualdez Jr., also known as Marty, and Andrew Julian Romualdez are also in politics, having been elected as a councilor of Tacloban and her fellow representative for Tingog Party List in 2025, respectively.[25]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Yedda Romualdez
Year Office Party Votes received Result
Total % P. Swing
2010 Mayor of Remedios T. Romualdez Lakas - - 2nd N/a Lost
2016 Representative (Leyte–1st) 147,477 73.66% 1st N/a Won
2019 Representative (Party-list) Tingog Sinirangan 391,211 1.40% 18th N/a Won
2022 Tingog 886,959 2.41% 3rd +1.01 Won
2025 1,822,708 4.34% 3rd +1.93 Won

References

  1. ^ a b "47. TINGOG" (PDF). Commission on Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "[EDITORIAL] What happened to delicadeza, Yedda Romualdez?". Rappler (in Filipino). Rappler Inc. July 21, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025. [S]a profile ng Rappler reporter na si Dwight de Leon, tila may puso ang asawa ni Speaker Martin Romualdez, 'reluctant politician,' at kumpirmadong walang ere — kaya nga mas nakaka-disappoint na mag-circumvent siya ng term limit.
  3. ^ Kontra Daya (July 22, 2025). "Romualdezes gaming party-list system, circumventing 1987 Constitution". Facebook. Meta Platforms Inc. Retrieved August 30, 2025. 'This is further evidence that political dynasties are gaming the partylist system to extend their political power,' said Dr. Danilo Arao, convenor of Kontra Daya.
  4. ^ Banal, Anton (July 24, 2025). "Macalintal: SC or HRET must rule on Yedda Romualdez case". SunStar. SunStar Publishing Inc. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Lo, Ricky. "Will Pia act as sponsor at Vic-Pauleen nuptials?". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  6. ^ a b "Tingog nominee Yedda Romualdez seeks reelection". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  7. ^ Lo, Ricky. "Leyte Rep. Yedda inherits work load from hubby Martin". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  8. ^ Gabieta, Joey A. (2016-05-11). "Former beauty queen Yedda Romualdez wins Leyte congress seat". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  9. ^ Cruz, Maricel (2019-08-17). "Yedda chairs House panel". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  10. ^ POLITIKO (2022-08-05). "Yedda Romualdez calls for swift implementation of law vs online abuse of kids". politiko.com.ph. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  11. ^ Inquirer, Philippine Daily (2020-12-08). "Vital step for child justice". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  12. ^ "Legislators and advocates celebrate filing of Magna Carta of Children Bill | Council for the Welfare of Children". cwc.gov.ph. Archived from the original on 2025-10-16. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  13. ^ Pacpaco, Ryan Ponce (2025-10-02). "Tingog Partylist 13 taon na: Matatag na tinig para sa bayan, mas pinalakas na serbisyo para sa bansa". Peoples Taliba. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  14. ^ "Standing Committees – Congress of the Philippines". econgress.gov.ph. Archived from the original on 2025-02-11. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  15. ^ POLITIKO (2024-05-19). "Tingog party-list tops RPMD performance survey". politiko.com.ph. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  16. ^ Araja, Rio N. (2024-05-19). "Romualdez, Acidre top-performing party-list solons—survey". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  17. ^ Gabieta, Joey A. (2025-02-08). "Speaker's son replaces mom as Tingog party-list's first nominee". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  18. ^ BNC, Prage (2025-04-11). "Tingog, ACT-CIS poised to get 3 seats in 2025 elections – Pulse Asia". Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  19. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole. "LIST: Final party-list ranking in the 2025 elections". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  20. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole. "Comelec final ruling voids Duterte Youth's 3 House seats". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  21. ^ Patinio, Ferdinand (July 18, 2025). "Tingog Rep. Yedda Romualdez to be proclaimed as 3rd nominee - Comelec". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  22. ^ Lo, Ricky. "Beauty (titles) run in the family". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  23. ^ Ramirez, Donnie C. (February 11, 2001). "Fullest blessing on fullest love". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. F1. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  24. ^ Abella, Lizbeth Ann (October 7, 2021). "Romualdez seeks another term in Congress". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  25. ^ Gabieta, Joey A. (February 8, 2025). "Speaker's son replaces mom as Tingog party-list's first nominee". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yedda_Marie_Romualdez