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Writer's pictureRed Flagged
Jan 12, 20223 min read

FALSE: Marcos declared martial law to protect Yamashita Treasure from foreign actors

Updated: Jan 21, 2022

Fact-checked by: Lorelyn Centino

 

Red Bullets:


  • Claim: Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law to protect the Yamashita Treasure buried in the Philippines from other countries seeking to take the alleged loots into their possession.

  • Rating: False

  • The truth: President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines with Proclamation No. 1081, s. 1972. There, he cited the threat of armed insurrection and the communist rebellion as a basis for the declaration. However, human rights violations were committed at the time and these are all constitutionally recognized as stated in the Human Rights Victims Reparations Act of 2013. Furthermore, the story about the Yamashita Treasure remains unproven.

  • We fact-checked this because: False narratives about martial law and the legacy of the Marcos family intensify historical revisionism that continuously mislead and confuse a lot of people of what truly happened during that period in history. It is deceptive and it becomes alarming when these false claims are continuously passed on to generations.



Red Totality:


YouTube channel Kaalam PH posted on Oct. 24, 2021, a 13-minute video titled “DAHILAN BAKIT KINATAKOTAN NG IBANG BANSA ANG PLANO NI MARCOS | MARCOS WEALTH” (The reason why other countries feared Marcos’ plans | Marcos Wealth). It contains several claims revolving around the tale of Yamashita Treasure and Marcos’ wealth to which was already repeatedly proven to be ill-gotten.


Specifically, the video claimed that one of the reasons why dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law during his term, which lasted from 1972 to 1981, was to protect the gold treasures supposedly buried in the Philippines by General Tomoyuki Yamashita from foreign countries seeking to take these into their possession.


This claim is false.


Proclamation No. 1081, which Marcos signed in 1972, noted that the basis of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines was the state of lawlessness in the country incited by the armed insurrection and rebellion by the Communist Party and the New People’s Army. As mentioned in its provisions, the “Supreme Court in its said decision concluded that the unlawful activities of the aforesaid lawless elements actually pose a clear, present and grave danger to public safety and the security of the nation.”


However, Martial Law Museum cited reports suggesting that it was the declaration of martial law that caused radicalized groups and movements to increase in numbers due to the participation of those who want to resist the abuses committed during the regime. According to their data, the number of radical forces swelled toward the end of martial law from about 1,500 in 1976 to 35,000 in 1985.


Various human rights violations were committed during this period. Under Marcos dictatorship, more than 70,000 people were jailed, about 34,000 were tortured and more than 3,000 people died according to Amnesty International. In recognition to the sacrifices of martial law victims, Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparations Act of 2013 was created to provide monetary and nonmonetary reparations to “victims of summary execution, torture, enforced or involuntary disappearance and other gross human rights violations” during Marcos regime.


Moreover, the veracity of the Yamashita Treasure narrative remains contested since there is no official record proving that the high-ranking official of the Imperial Japanese Army indeed buried the stolen gold treasures in the Philippines during World War II or that parts of the loot were found, as the video claimed.


As of this writing, the video has gained 2.6 million views and 81,000 likes on YouTube. It has prompted reaction videos, too.


Kaalam PH is notorious for creating contents tackling controversial issues involving the Marcos family, stating claims like Marcos is one of the greatest presidents in Philippine history and there are gold reserves deposited in foreign banks under his name which he intended to use for his infrastructure and development plans in the country. Videos endorsing Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stating why people should vote for him in the upcoming 2022 presidential elections were also posted. Its YouTube content is also cross posted on its Facebook page, which currently has over 148,000 followers.


Different content producers on YouTube, Facebook and other online platforms have harped on the same or closely connected myths versions in their uploads, often to virality.




References:


LawPhil, “Republic Act No. 10368,” February 25, 2013

Official Gazette, “Proclamation No. 1081, s. 1972,” September 21, 1972


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