Amelia Amante (born 1927), later known as Amelia De La Rama Braly, is a Filipino actress and socialite who is known as the 10th wife of Indonesian President Sukarno.
Rama was born Amelia Amante in 1927 in Bulacan, Central Luzon, and was raised in a conservative family.[1] She stated her life as an uncomfortable which made her have to depend on herself.[1]
Personal life
At the age of 15, Rama ran away from home to marry her sweetheart and later gave birth to her only child, Jimmy De La Rama (born 1956), a boxer.[1][2][3] Her husband died when she was 20 followed by her father which make her has to raise her son and taking care of her mother alone.[1][3] Rama later remarried to a lawyer who was a consultant in Hong Kong and the relative of Osmena family from Cebu but later divorced and taken his last name, "De La Rama", as her stage name.[1][3] In August 1963, she was introduced to Indonesian First President Sukarno during a visit in Manila in the framework of Maphilindo when she was still a top billed actress.[1][3] After that meeting, they met again three times whenever Sukarno visited Manila or other countries, and these meetings were photographed by photographers who described Rama as someone who had an unclear relationship with Sukarno.[3] With a help from Jose Maria Sison, Sukarno later buy her a house at Forbes Park.[1] Sukarno always gave Rama precious stones from ruby because it was her birthstone and called her Sampaguita which is the national flower of the Philippines.[3] Their relationship is also mentioned in 1964 document owned by President Ferdinand Marcos which stated that Sukarno's relationship with her was only for expansion of Far East Bank and Trust and Aguinaldo Development Corporation in Indonesia.[1] They travelled together visiting several countries and dating at Tampaksiring Palace in Bali, and later married secretly at Baiturrahim Mosque in Jakarta, in 1964, when Rama arrived in Jakarta and remained together until Sukarno told her to leave Indonesia during the Transition to the New Order.[1][3] Their marriage lasted until Sukarno's death in June 1970 and was kept as a secret by her until February 1979 when she stated during an interview with The Standard after visiting Sukarno's grave in Blitar in which she described Sukarno as a man who could give understanding, love and tenderness and said that he had never met a man who was so easy to befriend and polite as him.[1][3] Rama said that she himself did not want the marriage to be announced because of Sukarno's position and her identity as a Filipinos and mentioned the difficulties that arose when he married Dewi Sukarno.[3] She said that she had promised Sukarno that she would not pay her respects when he died but promised that she would visit his grave while scattering Sampaguita flowers and hoped to visit his grave when the restoration was complete.[3] Rama also added that another reason why she was not present at Sukarno's funeral was that she wanted to remember him as she saw him, namely wearing a white uniform, dashing and carrying a command baton.[3] In 1971, six months after Sukarno's death, she was remarried to James Willard Braly, a retired United States Air Force pilot and aide to President Dwight Eisenhower.[1] They divorced in 1985.[4]
Career
Rama started her career as an actress by partaking a minor role in Pangarap Ko’y Ikaw Rin (1947) and Bulakenyo (1949).[1] In 1961, she appeared in Warner Bros production The Steel Claw along with George Montgomery.[5][1] Her last film appearance was in Manila, Open City (1968) as a minor role.[1]
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