Harutyunyan himself jokingly called this story “Juno and Avos” (having in mind the famous Russian rock opera), matching himself with the Count Rezanov and Corazon Aquino with Conchita...

The events of 1986 went down the history of Philippines as “yellow revolution”. As a result of a coup d'etat the authoritarian President Ferdinand Marcos was stripped of power and Corazon Acquino assumed his post thus having become the first female president in the history of Philippines and Asia as a whole. At first, the Soviet government did not recognize Acquino as the leader of the country. Relations between the two countries became more complex. In 1988 Ara Harutyunyan paid a visit to Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines in the group of Soviet delegation, and during the reception at the Soviet Union Embassy in Philippines he expressed his desire to capture Corazon Aquino as a model that attracted him. As the President of the Philippines studied at the Department of Art in New York, she was very much excited about the master’s suggestion. The next day Harutyunyan was invited to Malacañan Palace; here just in a single session the portrait of the Philippine leader was sculpted.
There being no clay on the island, it was decided to replace it by a material of similar structure, which was for a long time carefully processed by the hardworking hands of the sculptor. The sculptural portrait of Corazon was presented to her as a gift from the Soviet Union; at the end President Aquino agreed to accept credentials from the Soviet Union Ambassador, and the diplomatic relations between two countries improved greatly, one can say “with a helping and talented hand” of A. Harutyunyan. Subsequently, he was awarded the medal of “Friendship of Nations”.