PROPERTY FROM THE LETICIA RAMOS SHAHANI COLLECTION
Romulo Olazo (1934 - 2015)
Portrait of a Boy
signed, inscribed Tiwi, Bicol and dated 5/78 (lower left)
pastel on paper
18 1/2" x 12" (47 cm x 30 cm)

SENATOR LETICIA RAMOS SHAHANI
From a Life of Privilege, a Woman of Substance
by STEVEN ERLANGER, NOV. 9, 1 9 8 9
(reprinted from The New York Times)

Her friendships spanned presidents and queens as well as the Philippines' most important artists. Daughter of one of the Philippines' most respected men and the sister mof another, Leticia Ramos Shahani has had a privileged life. It has also mbeen one of extraordinary accomplishment and self-discovery. Mrs. Shahani freely admits that she has been a beneficiary of the clannish, male-dominated and semi-feudal society that the Philippines remains. But in both her personal life and her career, she has made significant efforts to mbreak out of traditional patterns of insularity to become one of the country's most cosmopolitan voices, one of an influential group of respected women mpoliticians. In the process, she has become a model for some women, with a set of
credentials that owe little to her late husband, an Indian writer and professor who died suddenly 20 years ago, leaving her three small children to raise. Now, in her Senate position, she will play a substantial role in the heated mdebate about the renewal of a military bases treaty with the United States, an accord that requires ratification in the Senate, where 12 of 23 Senators have already declared their opposition.
In time, she headed the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, before being named in 1975 as her country's first ambassador to a Communist mcountry, and also, as it happened, the first woman Romania had received as ambassador. Later, she was named Ambassador to a rather more carefree nation, Australia.

______________________________

She was the first representative of the
Philippines to the Commission on the Status of
Women at the United Nations (CSW) from 1967-
75, More importantly, she led the drafting of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which
was eventually adopted by the UN in 1979.
In the Philippines, Shahani and other women
leaders paved the way for the establishment in
1975 of the National Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women and served as its chair in 1986.
Among her many awards are two French
Legion of Honor medals.
Shahani’s legislative accomplishments were
both impressive and ground-breaking. She
was the author of Republic Act (RA) 6725 on
“Strengthening the Prohibition of Discrimination
Against Women in the Workplace” of 1989;
RA 8353 or the “Anti-Rape Law of 1997,” and
RA 8505 or the “Rape Victim Assistance and
Protection Act of 1998.” She championed the
Gender and Development (GAD) Budget Policy,
which stipulated that at least five percent
of every government agency’s total budget
should be allocated towards advancing gender
equality and women’s rights.
Shahani also co-authored such laws as RA
7356, creating the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts (NCCA); RA 7227 or the
“Bases Conversion and Development Act;” RA
7157 or the “Philippine Foreign Service Act;”
RA 8550 or “The Philippine Fisheries Code;”
and RA 6977 or the “Magna Carta for Small
Enterprises.”

__________________________

Portrait of a Boy would hang in the
Philippine Embassy residence in
Canberra, Australia, while Senator
Ramos Shahani was ambassador
— but it would also become famous
as the face of ‘The Year of the Child’,
selected by the Fookien Times
Yearbook, one of the Philippines'
longest-running publications for a
special commemorative calendar for
1980.
The Fookien Times was the largest
Chinese language newspaper in
the Philippines at one time and was
founded by Go Puan Seng. who
would become its legendary editor.
His eldest daughter was none other
than the distinguished publisher
Betty Go-Belmonte who would found
the Philippine Star. Betty was also the
wife of Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte
Jr., former Speaker of the House.
Chanda Narciso Ramos Shahani,
son of the senator, recalls Betty Go-
Belmonte, rang his mother longdistance
in Australia to ask if she
could use the sketch to represent the
Filipino child. “They were like sisters
and Tita Betty was like a second
mother to us,” he reminisces. “And
for some reason, she knew about the
Olazo and loved it so much, she asked
to use it to represent the Year of the
Child.” It was Chanda who would
photograph and send the image of
the Olazo to Mrs. Go-Belmonte. “I
was just 15, a high-school student in
Australia, working with an amateur
camera, but somehow one of my
photos passed the Fookien Times’s
high standards. I guess, it’s a tribute
to the power of this seemingly simple
work.” (Lisa Guerrero Nakpil)

__________________________________

Mrs. Betty Go-Belmonte, a devote
Christian, added these verses from the
Bible to the Year of the Child calendar:
And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you
change and become like little children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position
of this child is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such
child in my name welcomes me.
MATTHEW 18: 3-5