Rudy Romano

Rosaleo "Rudy" Boller Romano, C.Ss.R (born September 26, 1940) was a Filipino Redemptorist priest and a prominent martial law-era activist who served as the Vice President for Visayas of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) who was abducted by alleged armed state forces in Cebu City on July 11, 1985. His disappearance has become one of the prominent cases of enforced disappearances in the Philippines, with appeals even coming from Pope John Paul II.

Early life Eldest of ten children, Romano was born in Malate, Manila on September 26, 1940 in an affluent background. Their family moved to Villareal, Samar when World War II broke out. His father was a town mayor and owned 200 hectares of rice land.

Priesthood Romano was introduced to the Redemptorists as they were doing missionary work in Samar that time. He decided to enter the seminary when he was sixteen years old and became a Redemptorist on July 2, 1958. After studying in Bangalore, India and Cebu, he became a priest on December 20, 1964 and would serve as the Vocation Director for the Redemptorist Community of Cebu from 1975 to 1980. His involvements include being part of the Redemptorist Social Apostolate for the Urban Poor in Cebu, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines,

He helped established Alyansa sa Mamumuo sa Sugbo (AMA)-Sugbu,

Protests and campaigns were launched to pressure the authorities for his surface. Pope John Paul II was made aware of the situation and carried prayers for his return. A writ of habeas corpus was filed by former Senator Jose Diokno and a group of lawyers.

In 2020, Cebuano human rights advocates, headed by Movement Against Tyranny espoused citizens to "be like Fr. Rudy" to speak up and advocate against human rights abuses under the former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Romano's image has been one of the continuous faces for the struggle of human rights in the Philippines, such as being one of the inspiration of church people in rallying during the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Uprising in 2025.