So what actually happened to the painting?
What became of the commissioned artwork remains unknown. Sanker maintains that the painting was deliberately set aside in favor of a Pen Cayetano piece and that he personally hand delivered the painting to Rebecca Rath before boarding her flight.
Alex Sanker, Belizean Artist
“This is actually a print off the original that I did. So, the only painting that I did a print and blow up because I was in love with this painting. Why? It came out way past my expectation and what I wanted to accomplish on canvas, and most importantly it’s one of the most dedicated pieces that I did. I spent five weeks on this painting, fourteen to eighteen hours a day. So weh people have to understand, I noh need this type of publicity. My painting sells itself, but I choose not to be used as a floor cloth fi get my name of my painting smothered and thrown to the side. That’s what this is all about.”
Isani Cayetano
“Now as it stands, an Alex Sanker painting exists out there that may have been misplaced, lost or stolen. What do you want to see happen with regards to this piece of art?”
Alex Sanker
Alex Sanker
“You said lost, misplaced or stolen or deliberately disappeared. I’m not scared of nobody bredda, at the end of the day this is my work, okay. So we got to include that. Just as how there may be a possibility that it could get lost, there’s also a possibility that they decided not to. What I had gotten when they lost the painting is that they had to basically FedEx a painting in to the Philippines because Belize was chosen as one of the ten fi do di live action and in his chapter five, he had mentioned that when they realized that when they realized the painting didn’t show up the day before Rebecca left, they went to Pen Cayetano… My whole thing is that they gave everybody the impression that they had no idea if the painting was even going to show up… When I took that painting off the frame and gave it to her in her hand that’s when she want to check in.”
Many others have weighed in on the controversial series by Tony Rath, including Rebecca Rath who has publicly acknowledged and thanked Sherima Guity, her trainer. This afternoon a former queen, Destinee Arnold wrote in a post that she recognizes the difficulties with working with Opal Enriquez, but that Enriquez ought to be credited for bringing Belize back into the pageant.
