A video on Facebook (FB) falsely claims that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has in storage tons of gold supposedly owned by the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. The BSP called this a myth.
On May 25, a false FB video on the supposed gold owned by the Marcoses appeared bearing the title: “MARCOS GOLD & AQUINO CORRUPTION HISTORY, PANOORIN NG (sic) MALAMAN ANG KATOTOHANAN (Watch to learn the truth).”
The first half of the 9-minute video flashed the claim that Marcos Sr. is the “sole owner” of more than 400,000 tons of gold. It was supposedly the commission paid by a wealthy clan known as Tallano. The gold stash is allegedly in the BSP basement.
The central bank, replying to a netizen query, refuted this falsehood with a May 16 letter response. It said there was “no record” of a “Tallano Gold” in their storage.
“[T]here is no information in the Committee of Seven Report that identifies the alleged ‘Tallano Gold’ as part of the assets and liabilities transferred by the then CBP [Central Bank of the Philippines] to BSP upon CBP’s liquidation,” the central bank further added.
Incoming president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in a March 15 interview with One News PH, also laughed off the myth. He reiterated he has never seen a single gold bar “his entire life,” and continues to be surprised whenever such rumors come up.
“Tone–tonelada ang sinasabi nila, hanggang ngayon hindi pa nila mahanap. Hindi nila mahanap because it doesn’t exist ([We have] tons of gold, they say, yet it hasn’t been found up to now. They can’t find it because it doesn’t exist,” Marcos Jr. declared.
The conspiracy theory resurfaced on the day Marcos Jr. was officially proclaimed as the next president of the Republic of the Philippines following the conclusion of canvassing of votes by members of the 18th Congress, which convened into the National Board of Canvassers.
An earlier copy of the video was published by FB page Maru John F. Brady (created on Nov. 4, 2020) in October 2021 and got more than 314,000 reactions, 7,300 comments and 112,000 shares, and received more than 5.5 million views.
FB page Marcos Sr.Macoy & Marcos Jr.BBM (Nov. 14, 2019) uploaded the resurfaced video and got more than 55,000 views. It has garnered more than 4,200 reactions, 200 comments and 1,600 shares.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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