A YouTube video used a photo collage to falsely claim that Marcos gold documents were released during the visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Japan. This is not true. The photo in the thumbnail is old and unrelated to the Feb. 8 to 12 official trip.
The video, posted on Feb. 13, carried the thumbnail showing a photo of Marcos Jr. and an image of former Japanese ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa and former prime minister Cesar Virata holding a document. These images are superimposed on a stock photo of gold bars to further the claim.
It bore the text:
“SA WAKAS HETO NA MARCOS GOLD DOCUMENTS NILABAS (FINALLY THIS IS IT MARCOS GOLD DOCUMENTS RELEASED).”
There were no reports of Marcos Jr. being at an event in Japan where such documents were released.
A reverse image search showed that Ishikawa and Virata’s photo was from 2016, not during the visit.
On Nov. 24, 2016, the Japanese government conferred the Imperial Decoration of the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun on Virata for his “contributions to promoting friendly relations and developing economic cooperation between Japan and the Philippines.” Virata served as prime minister in the last years of Marcos Sr.’s rule.
The video’s content did not support the claim either. It only flashed Radio Television Malacañang video clips of Marcos Jr.’s arrival from Japan.
During his visit, the president held a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, met with government and private sector leaders and spent time with the Filipino community, among others.
In a speech on his return, Marcos Jr. cited the signing of bilateral agreements that aim to strengthen the country’s ties with Japan, as well as investment pledges worth $13 billion as results of his trip.
False information about the reported tons of gold in the Marcos family’s possession, which the president has denied, also circulated when he met with United States president Joe Biden last year.
(Read related story VERA FILES FACT CHECK: The ‘Marcos gold’ was not discussed in Marcos-Biden meeting)
The video by the YouTube channel NEWSFILES (created on Dec. 12, 2012) that carried the erroneous claim has 2,903 views as of writing.
Have you seen any dubious claims, photos, memes, or online posts that you want us to verify? Fill out this reader request form or send it to ‘VERA, the truth bot’ on Viber.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
Read other interesting stories:
Click thumbnails to read related articles.
