Wednesday, September 29, 2010

135. Carnival Beauties: AMELIA Z. ROMUALDEZ, 1927 Miss Leyte

IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS? Amelia Zialcita Romuadez, Miss Leyte 1927, bears a striking resemblance to her first cousin, Imelda Romualdez (Marcos) in her official Manila Carnival picture.

In 1927, the province of Leyte fielded a homegrown beauty to the Miss Philippines tilt. She was Amelia Romualdez, who bore a striking resemblance to a first cousin—Imelda Romualdez—who would go on to become the First Lady of the land as the wife of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. Imelda's father, Vicente Orestes, is the younger brother of Miguel Lopez Romualdez, Amelia's father, who was married to Brigida Zialcita of Manila.

Amelia's father had been a former Assemblyman of Leyte and a Mayor of Manila during World War II. The Lopezes were of Spanish descent; Amelia's paternal grandmother, Trinidad Lopez was a daughter of a Spanish friar, Fray Diego de Lopez of Granada, Spain who was assigned in Leyte. The Lopezes are credited with founding the town of Tolosa and enjoyed a reputation as a rich, influential and accomplished family.


Amelia's siblings included Daniel (Speaker of the House of Representatives 1957-62), Estela, Miguel Jr., Alberto (father of former Health Secretary, Alberto G. Romualdez), Froilan and Eduardo (Central Bank Governor).

Though a popular candidate, she did not place in the finals, with the crown going to Tayabasin Luisa Marasigan, who represented Manila and who also reigned as Sultana ng Pasig. In later years, Amelia married Col. Maximiano Janairo and settled in Maryland, U.S.A.

2 comments:

Luigi Sison said...

Hello Alex, Thank you for creating a very interesting blog. Amelia was the second cousin of my father, Luis Victor Zialcita Sison. Her middle name is spelled "Zialcita". Would it be possible to have a copy of her pictures without the labels? Best regards, Luigi

Alex D.R. Castro said...

Why, of course, Luigi. I have about half a dozen pics of her. Can you pls. send me your email address? Maybe you could help me update her info about her. Like how many children she has, where she studied, what was her life like in the U.S.? Many thanks for dropping by.