Sukarno and His Sampaguita

Upon arrival at the airfield, Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal welcomed him and took him to the mansion of José P. Laurel, former president of the Philippines (1943-1945), where he, President Sukarno, would stay. In the mansion, Laurel lived with his wife, children, and grandchildren. To celebrate Sukarno's visit, they brought in the Bayanihan Cultural Ensemble, a choral group, who welcomed Sukarno with the Indonesian lenso dance. Two girls from the ensemble approached Sukarno and asked him to join the dance.

"One could hardly refuse so I started to dance and... BOOM! Flashbulbs! Snapshots! And the caption: There goes Sukarno the woman-chaser all over again," told Sukarno in his autobiography Sukarno: an Autobiography.

"I like attractive girls around me because I feel they are like flowers, and I like to gaze at beautiful flowers."

It was January 8, 1964, when Sukarno made a working visit to Manila, Philippines, to discuss the Maphilindo (Malaysia-Philippines-Indonesia).

Maphilindo was an effort to reduce boundary disputes due to the joining of Sabah and Sarawak to Malaysia in 1963. The Philippines considered Sabah part of its country, while Indonesia considered Malaysia nothing but a puppet state formed as part of the British imperialist effort to maintain power in Southeast Asia.

It was Sukarno's second official visit related to the Maphilindo issue, the first one being made in August 1963. In between his official meetings with Macapagal, Sukarno enjoyed his leisure time with the country's politicians. At a party at the Laurels Mansion attended by Filipino socialites, he met and fell in love with the Filipina actress: Amelia de la Rama, whose name was sometimes written as Amalia de la Rama.

The Marcos Documents

The story of Sukarno's love affair with Amelia de la Rama widely circulated among Filipino journalists at the time. This special relationship was also heard by José María Sison, founder and chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) who was a political exile in the Netherlands until his death.

Sison visited Indonesia in 1963 and 1964 as a correspondent for the London-based Eastern World and a member of the Asian-African Journalists Association. He established close ties with many Indonesian Communist Party officials. Sison's book, Philippine Society and Revolution (1971), is similar in title and content to Aidit's Masjarakat Indonesia dan Revolusi Indonesia (Indonesian Society and the Indonesian Revolution) published in 1958.

In his biography At home in the world: portrait of a revolutionary (2004), Sison wrote: "After Sukarno came to Manila for the Maphilindo conference in 1963, one yellow tabloid started to call me an agent of Sukarno and even accused me of fronting for him as buyer of a Forbes Park mansion for an alleged Filipino girl friend of his, the prominent socialite Amelia de la Rama, whom I did not know…"

The love story, being based only on rumors and having no solid evidence, seemed implausible. However, Sukarno and Amelia's relationship was apparently recorded in what is known as the "Marcos documents". 

After the fall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, President Corazon Aquino established the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), whose tasks included investigating and bringing back the wealth of Marcos and his cronies acquired through corruption. The PCGG immediately began its work by seizing and scrutinizing all personal documents belonging to Marcos. One document dated July 29, 1964 stated about Sukarno's lover.

The document actually discussed the financial scandal of Harry S. Stonehill, a former American soldier who thanks to his cooperation with Marcos, then a member of Congress, was able to build a business empire in the Philippines. Stonehill was deported in 1962 for bribing local politicians, but he was still able to control his business in the Philippines through José B. ("Jobo") Fernandez, founder of Far East Bank and Trust.

The Jobo group massively expanded its business, including to Indonesia. However, lacking a strong foothold in Indonesia, the Jobo group tried to convince Daniel Aguinaldo to join them because, says the document, "Aguinado, through Amalia Amante, the local girl friend of Sukarno, has been able to get a very good timber concession in Indonesia, therefore has established a foothold.

Daniel Aguinaldo, founder and owner of Aguinaldo Development Corporation (ADECOR), is a Filipino multimillionaire who invested his fortune of more than 100 million pesos in forest concessions, pearl farms, industry and real estate.

However, Dan Aguinaldo was not interested, so Jobo's group had to approach Amelia through Vicente Fernandez, Jobo's brother whom Amelia had a crush on. The document's author reports that this is how they got their "home base."

This belief was not baseless, as the document continues, "Sukarno recently purchased a house in Forbes Park for 400,000 pesos cash in the name of Mrs. Amalia de la Rama, known in local circles as Amalia Amante."

Forbes Park is a luxury residential area in Manila, which is home to the country's millionaires and elites.

Unfortunately, the "Marcos documents" provide no other clues to trace the truth of this story, and there are no other data or documents for comparison. If true, this is certainly nothing new. Didn't Ratna Sari Dewi do something similar with Japanese investments?

More Than Just a Romance

The love story of Sukarno in Manila is also recorded in Philippine literature, namely in the 1988 novel Ermita, penned by Fransisco Sionil José (known as Frankie), a prominent Filipino writer.

Ermita is named after the main area in Manila which is the center of business, culture, and government. The novel narrates the life journey of a young girl, Ermi Rojo, who becomes a high-class courtesan among businessmen and important people. One of Ermi's illicit lovers is the Great Man, an aging and decrepit Southeast Asian leader. Their encounter takes place in February 1964 when the Great Man is in Manila.

Ermi addresses the Great Man as "Your Excellency" because she realizes the power he holds, but the Great Man was embarrassed by the call as he feels old enough to be her father. "Why don't you call me 'Bapak'? It means 'father' in my language." Ermi agreed. However, Ermi keeps wondering if all the stories about the man's romances are true, and the Great Man seems to realize this.

He takes her hand. "I'm old, Ermi," he said softly, with sadness. "All the stories you read about me - they were true 20 years ago. But now not anymore. As you know, you don't have to share a bed with me. There's an empty bed in the next room. Did you know, I snore..."

"It's a privilege for me to be able to make you happy, Bapak," Ermi said sincerely.

"My breath stinks, especially in the morning."

Ermi leaned closer to him, slowly kissed him, and smelled his breath. "Smells of onions," she said with a chuckle.

Through the realistic depiction above, it can be inferred that Ermi and the Great Man's relationship is quite close, and not limited to sexual relationships. They could honestly talk and joke just like lovers, as if there were no social class boundaries between them.

Interestingly, Frankie also alluded to Ermi's role in influencing the Great Man's economic decisions and the gift of a house in Forbes Park.

"After the Great Man returned home, it was easy for Ermi to quit her job. A week later, she was given a new house in Forbes Park, a lovely bank account that would allow her to enjoy caviar for years to come. And if she wanted to use it, she could easily sell her influence to Filipino businessmen looking to invest in the Great Man's country."

Does the Great Man really represent Sukarno?

As a young reporter for Manila Times in the 1950s, Frankie was no stranger to Sukarno. He once met Sukarno at Malacanang. "In the 50s, Sukarno often came to Manila in cognito because he had several women lovers here and some of the Filipino politicians and entrepreneurs who have interests in Indonesia were his go-betweens," Silone said in an interview with Charlson Ong, in Likhaan 5, a journal of contemporary Philippine literature, in 2011.

In an email interview, Frankie only gave brief answers about the characters in his novel. He explained that Ermi was only a fictional character, while about the Great Man: "Yes, he is Sukarno."

A Confession

Unlike Ermi, who is portrayed as very young, Amelia de la Rama was 36 years old when she met Sukarno, with a beauty that was still alluring. 

Amelia was born into a conservative family in Bulacan, Philippines in 1927 as Amelia Amante. When she was 15, she ran away from home to follow her sweetheart. They got married and had a child together, but when Amelia was 20 years old, her husband passed away.

"I did not really lead a life of leisure as people pictured it to be. I married early. When my son was born, my father died. I took care of my son and also my mother. I learned to depend on myself from then on," she said, as quoted by journalist-cum-film critic Norma L. Japitana in Maya Pobre and the Killers Baratilyo (1995).

Amelia then ventured into the world of movies. She had small roles in Pangarap Ko’y Ikaw Rin (1947), Bulakenyo (1949), The Steel Claw (1961), and Manila, Open City (1968). During her career, she remarried a lawyer who had been a consul in Hong Kong. Her husband was related to the Osmeña family of Cebu, who had a strong influence in politics and business in the Philippines. It was from this marriage that Amelia got her surname, de la Rama. However, the marriage later dissolved.

Her role in The Steel Claw, a Hollywood production produced, directed and starring George Montgomery, catapulted her to fame. Her celebrity status made her welcome at every party while Osmeña and the prominent men from the south went about their business. It was then at one of these parties where she met Sukarno.

“In every woman's life there is only one big love. I am lucky to have been introduced to the President. It was at a party for him. I was with Nick Osmeña of Cebu. There was an instant attraction when we met...,” said Amelia. Nicasio (Nick) Osmeña was the eldest son of Sergio Osmeña Sr., former president of the Philippines (1944-1946) whose image graces the 50 peso currency.

For Amelia, the years with Sukarno were delightful, and no memories with other men could top that. She traveled with Sukarno to several countries and was invited to Tampaksiring Palace in Bali. Amelia likes to reminisce about the days when she and Sukarno strolled around the palace, when they could talk intimately; about affairs of state, about his other wives, about Dewi.

Amelia kept her relationship with Sukarno a secret for 15 years before she made a public confession in 1979. She wasn't just Sukarno' lover, but his wife. To Hong Kong’s the Standard newspaper in early February 1979, Amelia claimed to have been married to Sukarno. Amelia recalled that she arrived in Jakarta in 1964 and, secretly, married Sukarno in the palace mosque.

"I myself did not want our marriage to be made public," she said, quoted in the February 17, 1979 issue of Tempo magazine, "because of his position, because I am a Filipino. Remember the troubles that arose after he married Dewi?"

There was no news or publicity about their marriage. Amelia's arrival even escaped newspaper coverage. Interestingly, in the same year, President Macapagal made a state visit to Indonesia, during which Sukarno and Macapagal visited Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Bali, and stayed at Tampaksiring Palace.

"Sukarno was an understanding, loving, and gentle man," she said. "And I never met a man who was so easy to get along with and so polite."

Sukarno gave Amelia an affectionate nickname: Sampaguita, or the jasmine flower that is the Philippines’ national flower.

His Last Lover?

Sukarno passed away on June 21, 1970 without Amelia by his side. In fact, as she admitted, she promised not to visit when Sukarno died. "But I promised that I would visit his grave by scattering sampaguita flowers," she said, as quoted by Tempo.

"I want to remember him as I saw him. Wearing a white uniform, dashing and carrying a baton of command."

Although Amelia was absent, we can perhaps borrow Frankie's imagery from the novel Ermita about Ermi's last encounter with the Great Man.

His voice was weak but warm as always. "I'm happy to see you." Ermi hugged him, her clothes and breath drifting in the smell of the hospital.

Lost in grief, Ermi could feel the gentle pat of his hand on her back. "My Ermi," he murmured, pushing himself away to look at her tear-soaked face.

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With that, Amelia's love story with Sukarno came to an end. Six months after Sukarno died, news emerged of Amelia's marriage to James Willard Braly, a retired United States Air Force pilot and aide to President Dwight David Eisenhower. "This is the bride's fourth marriage. She married Sukarno in 1963, but Sukarno arranged for her to leave the country before the coup that overthrew him in 1967," wrote the Toledo Blade, January 5, 1971.

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After that, we don't really know what happened to Amelia de la Rama, the sampaguita.*

‍The author would like to thank Lisandro Claudio and Ambeth Ocampo.