Book Review: Conspiracies and Controversies: Philippines' Favorite Conspiracy Theories and Most Controversial Filipinos of the 20th Century

Conspiracies and Controversies: Philippines' Favorite Conspiracy Theories and Most Controversial Filipinos of the 20th Century is a book chock full of so much conspiratorial terminology and references that the casual reader might get lost in the verbiage. The prose can also be a bit rambling as the author rehashes obscure stories from arcane magazines which could very well be mere opinion. And how can one tell the difference between fact and fancy when access to those magazines is not so easy being that most of them are from the 80's, a time when digitization was not a common  practice?

https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracies-Controversies-Dr-Erick-Juan/dp/1536898392

Nevertheless many of the author's sources are available online and not so out of reach to the reader with a black belt in Google-fu. Erick San Juan is also the author of Marcos Legacy Revisited: Raiders of the Lost Gold. Let us not forget the editor of that book wrote:

How much of Erick's book is based on fact, and how much on conjecture, is difficult to say. What is easy to conclude is that if there is one single person who has looked at the gold from a wide range of angles and has accumulated wheel-barrow loads of documentation, that person is Erick.

p. xi

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2022/02/book-review-marcos-legacy-revisited.html 

Alas, this volume gives the reader no such warning to heed but such caution is necessary.  

The entire book can be summed up on pages 100-101.

After all has been said and done, our political and military leaders will come to the inevitable conclusion which many around the world before them have to realized, that "It is not ultimately ‘humanity’, but a frighteningly small conclave of political figures — some more or less ‘democratically elected’, some not — who wield the authority of life and death over the entire planet. Some of them are intelligent and responsible, but some are unimaginative, insensitive, even positively stupid. Some are manifestly incompetent. Some are arguably insane, to one or another degree. Yet it is they who, with a signature appended to a document, or even with a single spoken word, can send individuals into battle, can determine people’s nationalities, can dictate the circumstances in which one lives, can pronounce where one can go or cannot go, what one can do or cannot do. It is they who, for example, by drawing a line on a paper map, can conjure a ‘frontier’ into being, a barrier as restrictive and insurmountable as any physical wall...And it is they, not ‘humanity’, who, if there is indeed to be an apocalypse, will bring it about."

Frightening, isn't it. But look what they have done to our country and the rest of the world since the turbulent 1960s. We are headed toward a one-way Socialist "new world order." Only then will our distinguished RAM officers and their men fully realized that, just like the 1896 Revolution, the 1986 EDSA Revolt was not a spontaneous people power uprising, but a well-planned, foreign-hatched conspiracy which used Filipino stoolpigeons.

pgs. 100-101

Yes, indeed, the post-Vatican II Liberation-Theology-promoting-Catholic Church, Jewish Bankers, the Committee of 300, the World Council of Churches, the CIA, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group, the Illuminati, the IMF, George Soros, and every other nefarious conspiratorial group is seeking to bring the Philippines under the boot heel of the New World Order. That quote above, by the way, is from The Messianic Legacy - Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh & Henry Lincoln which is the sequel to their debunked and discredited book Holy Blood, Holy Grail. 

Here are two among many documents Erick San Juan cites to prove this conspiracy.

https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1985/eirv12n44-19851108/eirv12n44-19851108_040-the_philippines_scenarios_and_op.pdf

https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1986/eirv13n29-19860725/eirv13n29-19860725_037-the_cv_starr_foundation_dope_inc.pdf

Of course "The Jew" is behind all of the aforenamed groups.

Rapacity is a passion which has become the Jew's second nature and to which he instinctively lends obedience. The lust of gain is so strongly entrenched in his organism that it overrides every other feeling, every other passion. He knows no respect. If you sneer at him, he rages like a tiger. His only life in aim is gain. Hence, everything which does not have this object in view deserves no attention from him.

The Jew's unlimited rapacity puts him in an everlasting antagonism to the rest of mankind. This is why he wages war against all other men. This rage lead the Jew to believe that men exist only to cheat and devour one another. The maxim, "Dalawang klase lang ang tao sa mundo...isang manloloko at isang naloloko," which has become a favorite saying among Filipinos is of Jewish descent. In this rivalry between men, it is the Jew;s option that the most cunning and rapacious must, in the end, devour the others. For them, this is the supreme law of the jungle, which is now being widely used by the Neo-Malthusian globalists and free traders.

pg. 9

That saying Erick quotes translates as, "There are only two kinds of people in this world, the deceiver and the deceived." To this effect even Misuari has been deceived by the Jews and their front organizations.

Misuari's political moves - his use of propaganda- only show who his real employers are: the globalists, free traders and narcotic legalizers whose objective is to destroy nation-states.

pg. 10

Of course the Muslim Independence Movement was not about Independence. It's all about the Jews destabilizing the Philippines. 

Here in the Philippines, the same "balkanization" process in unfolding before our eyes. It's the Christians and Moslems slaughtering each other, while their Jewish masters laugh.

pg. 6

Funny how Erick San Juan paints the globalists as being very bad for the Philippines and yet claims in the preface that he is not fighting them.

To prove that history does not just happen is my primary reason for writing this book. How can it be when conspiracy is one of its active ingredients?

I am not fighting the globalists nor any other organization. I just want the Filipinos to know what's really going onto that our leaders and compatriots would know what to do.

pg. vi

If his purpose is not to fight the globalists then why even bother? Perhaps he is a globalist? Perhaps he is engaging in what is known as "revelation of the method?"  What are Filipinos to do? They don't run the government. They elect people to run the government and then those people do whatever they fancy. And make no mistake that the Philippines is firmly entrenched in the World Order even in the New World Order. One wonders what Erick would think about the Duterte administration kowtowing to the WHO as regards the pandemic or even The Hague ruling on the WPS. Most importantly what would he think about a President who was married to a Jew and whose half-Jewish daughter is currently the Vice President and poised to become the next President. 

The second part of this book is about several controversial figures. These figures include Cory Aquino, Cardinal Sin, Imelda Marcos, Potenciano Illusario (the director of Maharlika who cast Dovie Beams), Ninoy Aquino, Ramos, and Erap. 

The chapters on the Aquinos are the longest at 27 pages for Cory and 45 pages for Ninoy. Both are accused of heinous activities and conspiracies against the Philippines and Filipinos. Concerning Ninoy Erick San Juan writes:

Is it possible therefore to say that it was indeed Masonic teaching which molded Ninoy Aquino to what he was highly suspected of: a cold-blooded, ambitious politician who had no scruples about eliminating his rivals? History tells us to conclude affirmatively.

pg. 137

Erick San Juan then proceeds to give a litany of facts from a variety of sources to back up this claim. Many of these sources are not available online and would require lots of legwork at a university library to verify.  The book "This is Ninoy" is one of his sources but it is only available on library shelves far out of my domain.

https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/This_is_Ninoy.html?id=nM1wAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

Of Cardinal Sin, who was instrumental in the 1986 EDSA People Power Erick writes:

But what about Sin and Bacani? Are they not to be blamed for the spiritual death of millions of Filipino Catholics whom they have "judaized?"

pg. 105

Why Erick employs the term "judaized" I have no idea because his truck is with post-Vactican II Liberation Theology of which he treats extensively throughout the book. There is nothing Jewish about Vatican II.

There is nothing critical written about Imelda. Erick relates two stories concerning her that are brushed off as being, "Ha, ha! That' so Imeldific!" The first one is about the time she was contemplating jumping bail and returning to the Philippines disguised as a nun and then hiding out at the INC's compound. The second is the well-known snub of the Beatles. As regards the latter he writes:

The thing is, during those days, one must never f__k around with the likes of Imelda Marcos, if knowingly, he does not have the backing of the Royal British Army.

pg. 123

How charming. The thing is this book is about the "Most Controversial Filipinos of the 20th Century" and Erick San Juan only gives Imelda Marcos a scant 7 pages! That is scandalous and shows where his biases lie. In fact there is no chapter devoted to Ferdinand Marcos who is by far the "Most Controversial Filipino of the 20th Century." Instead Marcos, Erap, and Ramos are depicted as victims of the globalists. 

The bottom line is this book falls in the genre of speculative conspiracy and Erick San Juan fails to give any concrete proof for many of his claims. That makes many of its conclusions questionable.  The Muslim Independence Movement was orchestrated by the Jews to destabilize the Philippines?? How ridiculous especially given the long history of the Moros vs the Spanish.  It's not as if the Philippines has ever been stable anyway. 

There are a lot of facts and data stuffed on every single page but as even Erick San Juan writes concerning Alfred McCoy and which is just as applicable to this book:

"He writes very well. He's an extremely seductive analyst because he can marshal data to support his claims," Robles insists.

Don't they all do? I mean the paid hacks.

The great American industrialist Henry Ford said: "history is bunk." Napoleon Bonaparte called it "a collection of lies statesmen hav agreed upon." For countless generations already, history is what happens in history books.

So far, a Catholic scholar was able to capture history's most fitting definition when he said, "Education rests on texts revised with every shift in public policy."

pg. 196

Perhaps if Erick San Juan wrote this book today he would no doubt add Ella Cruz's unwise dictum, "History is like tsismis."

A Filipino Remake of The Lord of the Rings

The new Rings of Power TV show is set to debut on September 2nd and the whole world is excited. Even the fan boys who have examined every detail of every frame of the trailer and of the cast interviews and absolutely hate it are excited. They are going to meme the heck out of it.

One of the things about this new series we keep hearing about is "representation" meaning, "We need more people of color in the show." But why? Do people have to look like you in order for you to enjoy or relate to a show? Squid Game was a massive worldwide success and it's a South Korean TV show. I enjoy the films of Akria Kurosawa and I am not Japanese.  Neither are the many Weebs who binge anime!

That is all a prelude to this, a Philippine version of the Lord of the Rings.

https://interaksyon.philstar.com/breaking-news/2018/04/03/123785/abs-cbn-remake-lord-of-the-rings-poll-facebook/

ABS-CBN seems to be delegating casting decisions to social media in conducting informal polls on a supposed Filipino remake of “The Lord of the Rings” franchise.

Last week, the Kapamilya network polled Facebook users on actors and actresses they think would be best to play the main characters in JRR Tolkien’s classic trilogy — Lady Galadriel, Arwen Undómiel, Legolas Greenleaf and Frodo Baggins — if a remake were in the works.

"Among these Kapamilya actresses, who would you like to play Galadriel if there is a remake of 'The Lord of the Rings'?" one of the posts says.

ABS-CBN, however, has yet to formally announce if there is any serious pursuit to produce a Filipino version of the epic. The polling came ahead of the network’s Holy Week Filipino-dubbed television broadcast of Peter Jackson’s acclaimed trilogy.

Whether ABC-CBN was serious about remaking the Lord of the Rings or not is moot now since the bootlickers in the Duterte administration denied them a franchise renewal. 

But what is important to note is that Filipinos, who are not British, and anyone who knows Tolkien knows he wrote the Lord of the Rings as a myth and legend for his own country of Britain, care about his world. 

While many chose their picks, not everyone welcomed the idea. Fans questioned the television giant’s ability to equal the award-winning production.

“Dear ABS-CBN, please don’t ruin the movie. You will just humiliate yourself. I’m pretty sure you cannot give justice to it,” commented one Facebook user.

Another Facebook user asked to respect the vision of the author: "LOTR is the best movie with good graphics and good story. If you can't match it, don't remake it!"

Just look at those comments. These people know what's up. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film series was a flash in the pan. It was lightning in a bottle. It will never be repeated. Yeah he changed some things because that is what happens during an adaption but the Spirit is there. Christopher Tolkien hated them but of course he would since he was the gatekeeper of his father's life work. Sadly Simon Tolkien, the grandson of Professor Tolkien, who is the new gatekeeper says Peter Jackson was too faithful which is why he wanted him to have nothing to do with the new Rings of Power series. 

Facebook ABS-CBN

What's important to note here is this work of fiction is beloved by so many people all around the world. People that nave nothing to do with the ethnic group for whom Tolkien wrote. This is because the themes are universal and timeless. In fact Tolkien confessed that it is a Catholic work and there are billions of Catholics. The world does not need a black elf or the first black female dwarf to be able to get lost in Middle Earth.  All we need is a cozy nook in which to crack open Tolkien's books. The magic works all on its own. Even, perhaps especially, in the very Catholic Philippines.

Book Review: Marcos Legacy Revisited: Raiders of the Lost Gold

Marcos Legacy Revisited: Raiders of the Lost Gold reads like a collection of short stories with a similar theme more than a book with a coherent singular story. That's because each chapter focuses on a different account concerning the Marcos gold narrative. What this book ultimately reveals is that no one knows the truth about Marcos' gold. There are too many conflicting reports, eyewitness accounts, and documents. The majority of the stories in this book are based on unproven and unprovable speculation.

Even the editor of this book says she does not know if the author, Erick San Juan, is being factual.

How much of Erick's book is based on fact, and how much on conjecture, is difficult to say. What is easy to conclude is that if there is one single person who has looked at the gold from a wide range of angles and has accumulated wheel-barrow loads of documentation, that person is Erick.

p. xi

While looking at a subject from a "wide range of angles" is usually a strength, this approach ultimately only serves to cause a lot of doubt. This is because Erick San Juan is very clear about what is the source of the Marcos gold. It is not the Yamashita treasure as many claim. 

...the Marcos gold haul is separate and distinct from the Yamashita treasure. The former dwarfs the latter, in terms of the total amount involved.

A close friend, privileged to have read the contents of Marcos' last will and testament, swears that when he scanned the document about seven years ago, he realized he was actually looking at a few sheets of paper worth US$947 billion!

p. 2

Erick says the Yamashita treasure cannot be the Marcos gold because the Japanese successfully shipped all of that gold back to Tokyo and used it as a loan to the Illuminati in exchange for Western technology.

Moreover, the Japanese war booty was successfully shipped to Tokyo after the first route of Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, from Singapore to Mongolia, and the rest kept in the Philippines by officers of the Japanese imperial forces, after having been buried in 172 carefully selected sites within the Philippine archipelago, prior to 1945. It was largely made up of gold bars, assorted jewelry and religious artifacts seized from the ship Awa Maru, General Percival, and the defeated British forces of Malaya and Singapore.

Later, the Japanese government used a big chunk of it as an "investment loan" to the "Illuminati," in exchange for Anglo-Saxon technology which it badly needed to rebuild the ravaged Land of the Rising Sun.

p. 3

Erick does bring up the discovery of the golden Buddha by Rogelio Roxas in 1970 but he dismisses it saying no other evidence of the Yamashitsa treasure still being in the Philippines has ever been found.

Aside from the rare discovery by Roxas, no other evidence indicating that the treasure of Yamashita really existed was ever found. Clearly, the Japanese succeeded in shipping everything that was looted to Japan. It was to be Tokyo's solid investment and contribution to the all-powerful rulers of the world, the Illuminati, which helped transform Japan into a superpower despite its humiliating defeat in the hands of the Allied Forces.

p. 29

Because the author is certain that the Yamashita treasure is not the source of Marcos' gold hoard that makes every single story in this book which does revolve around that narrative false. Maybe. Again, nothing in this book is anywhere near being certain. So, where did Marcos get his gold? Ferdinand Marcos' gold fortune was actually stolen from the Vatican. 

In a recent communication to the Inquirer's editor-in-chief, Letty J. Magasanoc, Tagle revealed, among other things, that Marcos had obtained his wealth from Father Jose Antonio Diaz, the Vatican's Filipino-Spanish treasure, whose expertise in handling the Holy See's priceless possessions gained for him the complete trust of Pope Pius XII, a trust he would later betray.

Jsut before the outbreak of World War II, Tagle continued, Father Diaz returned to the Philippines to secretly carry out his Mose prized agenda. He changed his identity to "Colonel Severino Sta. Romana," to better carry out his devious plan to transfer the Vatican gold bullion and treasures to his personal accounts in various banks. He then befriended a young, brilliant lawyer in the person of Ferdinand E. Marcos, who willingly helped him carry out his clandestine activities. In exchange, Diaz taught the young Marcos everything he needed to master in the art of international gold trading. One proof of this special relationship is the fact that Marcos attended the inaugural ceremony of U.S. President Harry S. Truman as the official representative of J.A. Diaz & Company, a listed firm in the New York Stock Exchange.

p. 5

So, where is the proof that Marcos attended the inauguration of Harry Truman? Erick San Juan does not provide any proof for that claim. In fact despite the almost 200 pages of appendixes showing various documents most of the claims in this book are not sourced. One is left to go searching for proof but the only things that come up are quotes from this book! A Google search does show us a picture of Marcos on the website of the Truman Library.

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/2013-3136

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (standing) delivering a speech during the inaugural ceremony for the Pacific War Memorial. Seated behind him are United States Ambassador to the Philippines G. Mennen Williams (front row, third from the left), Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos (fourth from left), and Nancy (Mrs. G. Mennen) Williams (fifth from left). All others are unidentified. The memorial is located on the island of Corregidor, Philippines. June 22, 1968

It is not my job to fact check this book but many of the stories told are simply not possible. I am speaking of the amount of gold and amount of money allegedly owned by Marcos.

I have seen documents  saying that the gold under the control of the umbrella (there are smaller stocks not reported to or controlled by the umbrella) is in the neighborhood of 1.33 million metric tons (MT). Whether one believes this figure or a lessor figure is not material given the magnitude of the entire scenario. One metric ton of gold is worth about $11 million. The Phippines' annual gold production is estimated at between 40-60 metric tons. The world's "legal" annual gold production, which is regulated by the London gold cartel so as not to upset gold pricesas well as the value of currencies of the world, is estimated at between 1,200 to 1,400 metric tons.

p. 46

That is from a report by PTV4 given to Cory Aquino. The Umbrella is 54 people tasked by Marcos to manage his assets in the event of his death. Who are they? We are never told. This report also says that the Yamashita treasure

...appears to be the basis for the Marcos' hidden wealth.

p. 43

That effectively makes this story a lie from the author's viewpoint. There are also not 1.33 million metric tons of gold in the world. The total amount of gold ever mined in the entire world is 166,500 tonnes. Of course there is no official figure on the total amount of gold ever mined and estimates vary. But it is simply not believable that Marcos had in his possession 1.33 million metric tons of gold in various accounts.

One man, Larry Henares, claims he got a figure of 400,000 tonnes!

Just how much gold are we talking here? No one knows exactly. But Hilarion (Larry) Henares, the national economic adviser of the Macapagal, administration has given us something slightly better than a ballpark figure.

"At thee time I was appointed chairman of the Gold Commission, I inspected three sites in Metro Manila where the gold was stored. The highest authority told me that the total gold amounted to 400,000 metric tons. One metric ton of gold is equal 32.151 troy ounces,  is worth at $400 per ounce, $12,860,400. Multiply 400,000 tons of gold, we get $53,144,160,000,000 or more than $5 Trillion." These figures, which appeared in Henares' regular Inquirer column (Make My Day), have probably reached the $15 Trillion mark interests included and compounded. 

'This gold can transform this country into a prosperous and powerful nation, with the right kind of leaders," Henares added. "But I do not trust the Cory government, I do not trust her economic advisers, the Council of Trent who will only steal the gold for themselves. I do not trust the Americans who need our gold to save their floundering economy."

p. 91

That figure is not believable in the slightest yet we are to believe he got it from an official government source.

As for the value of Marcos' wealth, it varies. The highest amount given in this book is $50 trillion.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on October 14, 1997, Tagle claimed that his findings are the result of 10 long years of research which brought him to places like Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, the Bahamas, London, New York and Canada, among other countries. 

"It is very difficult to uncover the Marcos assets or estates, because it is tied to many accounts linked to the Sta. Romana Estates,” says Tagle. “Through intricate maneuvers and appointment of many nominees, trustees, and coded accounts, President Marcos, acting as legal counsel and chief trustee of Col. Severino Sta. Romana had succeeded in isolating the nominees or trustees of the gold certificates from the physical assets, so much so, that it is almost impossible to recover them without collecting the various pieces (of the puzzle).” Tagle likewise disclosed that foundations were used to hide the accounts amounting to a whopping “$50 Trillion.” 

p. 16

If that is all true then why did Tagle, just two years later, claim the Marcos gold was worth only $10 trillion?

A former Catholic priest here claims to have evidence that the alleged Marcos gold horde is composed of World War II “Yamashita gold and Vatican gold.’ Ex-priest Marcelino Tagle of Bataan, a former director of Caritas Manila and one of the nation’s “Ten Outstanding Young Men’ in 1967,said in a recent interview that the nation “should benefit’ from the Marcos gold, which he estimated at “10 trillion dollars.’

https://falconbase2008.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/the-secret-history-of-marcos-wealth/

None of the figures in this book are believable. They are out of all proportion. And they all contradict one another. The fact is no one knows how much Marcos was ever worth or how much gold he had or the state of all that alleged wealth now. Erick makes it clear that Marcos told lies as a smokescreen to hide his wealth.

But the tales about the huge treasure purportedly given to USAFFE Major Ferdinand E. Marcos during the dark days of the Second World War which became the basis of his fortune (then estimated to be $35 billion) are nothing more than a cleverly concocted diversionary tactic floated by Marcos himself, a smokescreen to confuse the “raiders of the lost gold”, so that none of them would know exactly where the lost bullion is deposited. 

There is, however, one thing which Marcos overlooked: The Swiss banks are booby traps used by the Elite to trap the unwary. Four years ago, The SPOTLIGHT ran an article on how the Rothschild Bank in Zurich, owned by Baron Elie de Rothschild of London, had been charged with embezzling money from an estate. The article warned of possible trouble when leaving an estate in Switzerland. I couldn’t agree more. However, those who are foolish enough to choose a bank owned by international rip-off artists can expect to have trouble. 

p. 3-4

The entire book can be summed up on page 97:

The mystery of the Marcos gold remains a mystery, incurring heavy losses on those who dare to uncover it.

Well, the curse of Marcos gold is not stopping the Raiders from attempting to retrieve it. And just who are the Raiders of the Lost Gold? Jewish Bankers and the Illuminati.

Who will get the Marcos Gold Haul in the end? Will it be the Philippine government acting on behalf of the Filipino people and the Marcos heirs? Or, will it be the Raiders [Khazarian-Bolshevik-Zionist-Bankster Jews] and their One-World apparatus? 

The odds, of course, are very much stacked against us, simply because we have a natural knack for “not getting our act together”. The wily opposition is exploiting this chink in our armor to the hilt, to compound the problem. Can anyone count the number of paid CIA and U.S. State Department hacks operating in and out of our government? 

We are facing an extremely powerful group of counter-claimants. Very few people are aware that the Bank Secrecy Act of 1936 was enacted expressly to protect this group’s assets from being taken over by the Nazis. The same law also made it impossible to trace Jewish money in flight from Germany to Switzerland—something the Germans regarded as “an unfriendly gesture on the part of the Swiss against them”. In short, nothing ever happens, neither in international banking nor in geopolitics, without the knowledge of this group of financial oligarchs. 

p. 11

That bit in brackets about the Bankster Jews is not in the book. It is in the September 2, 2006 edition of the Phoenix Journal Review on page 5. Parts of the book were printed in that magazine. Basically it's the Philippines vs the Illuminati. Who will win? Apparently Marcos.

The aborted deal of  The Corporation International with the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos (better known as the Trilateral Commission) involved an agreement in which the president was promised power for life and a guarantee of an Investment Loan to be coursed through a Mini-Marshal plan to save the failing Philippine economy. All this in exchange for his gold bullion.

p. 147

Unbelievably the Illuminati, under the branch of the Trilateral Commission, wrote a nice letter to Marcos asking for his entire stash of gold. In exchange they would give him an investment loan and he would be in power for life. 

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/secretgoldtreaty/trilat_appendix6.4.htm

This official Trilateral Commission stationery not only has the all seeing eye and pyramid at the top of the page but there are also three addresses on the side margin

Fifth Avenue at 55th Street, New York, NY 10022 212 753 4500 

Lancaster Gate - Hyde Park - London W23NZ Telephone: 61-2525090 Telex:291655 Prestel 3441100

Weinbergstrasse 45, CH 8006 Zurich (the book has 8008 but that is clearly wrong)

The first address is for the St. Regis Hotel. The other address turn up private residences. Are we really supposed to believe that the Illuminati, the group that controls the world, wrote a polite letter to Marcos rather than stealing his gold outright when it is they who own the Swiss banks in which that gold is deposited? It does not make sense and this story contradicts much of what Erick has to say about the banks being designed to steal people's money. 

To conclude here, everyone has their own version of the Marcos gold. 

Frank Pasion, an outstanding labor leader and the author of a thesis entitled The Incomparable Achievements of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, offers simple computation which will prove that Marcos had done many good things for the country: "Just add the loans Marcos inherited in 1965 ($13.5 Billion) to those incurred by the private sector ($7 Billion), together with the amount of reserves left by Marcos ($2.5 Billion), and you gel $23 Billion. Since the outstanding loan obligations of the country at the time of Marcos' departure from the political scene totaled only $24 Billion, it follows that the dreaded Marcos regime—in its twenty years of absolute rule—incurred only a measly loan of $1 Billion, not $24 Billion as attested by his detractors."  

Pasion also reminds the political opponents of Marcos that it was during the later's incumbency that the price of imported crude oil rose from $2 to $24 per barrel. Yet in the same period, the Philippine economy managed to weather the scams despite the worldwide recession, compounded by the growing Muslim insurgency in the south. The situation became unmanageable only when Senator Benign° Aquino Jr. was shot to death by an unlmown gunman.  

Marcos knew that the only key to Philippine progress would be the establishment of an industrial base, or a "machine-tool" industry. But his effort to implement a heavy industrial program "was opposed at every tum by his technocrats, by spokesmen of the Opus Dei, and the Makati business community, all of whom echoed the position of the IMF-World Bank opposing the eleven major industrial projects," Lichauco claims. 

When Cory Aquino took over whew Marcos left off, the situation became worm. "Prices of prime or essential commodities soared from 50 percent to 200 percent as compared to January 1986," wrote Pasion. "Laborers, on the other hand, were given a miserable PIO additional daily, despite the fact that the average laborer had to pay for daily expenses which increased 100 percent. And this figure excluded rental payments." 

How then did Marcos accomplish so much with so little? We can only conclude that he used part of his gold haul to support the govemment's garganman projects. 

p. 120

Erick San Juan believes that Marcos used the stolen Vatican gold to build all of his projects in the Philippines.  But if that were true then the paper trail left behind should shed some light on that. "The Incomparable Achievements of President Ferdinand E. Marcos" is not available online. A search for it turns up nothing but references to this book. Because this is a persistent claim Rappler has a whole article devoted to proving the math of Frank Pasion is wrong. 

But aside from erroneous economic analysis, many red flags are also in the references included. 

First, it appears that many of the arguments in the post are derived (almost word-for-word) from the book Marcos Legacy Revisited: Raiders of the Lost Gold (title only, questionable) written by Marcos supporter Erick San Juan in 1998. 

The book cited the thesis “The Incomparable Achievements of President Ferdinand E. Marcos,” which was used to say that Marcos owed only $ 1 billion. But that thesis had no hits on Google, other than an apparent conspiracy theory periodical published in 2001 in Las Vegas.

[Analysis] Marcos Debt: What is The Truth?

This book and its fanciful claims have bounced all around the internet being used by revisionists to paint a picture of Marcos as an awesome dude who gave his all for the betterment of the country but who has subsequently been unjustly demonized by his detractors. Unsurprisingly Get Real Philippines has been bamboozled by the claims made in this book.

It is indeed this preconceived opinion or prejudice perpetuated by the yellows that Marcos has pilfered the people’s money that is more effective for their purposes than it is to reveal that Marcos’ wealth was rooted in gold transaction schemes (gold that was not the government’s to begin with).

https://www.getrealphilippines.com/2016/05/yellow-lives-matter/

Granted that article does not cite this book but the same claims are made about the gold and Tagle's testimony is taken as gospel truth. 

If Marcos would have wanted to benefit the Philippines with his gold he would have done so. But history shows that he did not. This book certainly does not show he did so. Everything here is conjecture which would not stand in a court of law. It does not even stand in light of reading. Everything in this book concerning Marcos' gold is transparently false.

Book Review: Neither Trumpets nor Drums

Neither Trumpets nor Drums is a memoir written by former Vice President Salvador "Doy" Laurel about his time in the Cory Aquino administration. Rather than being a pean to or a complete takedown of Cory Aquino, Salvador Laurel gives his honest impressions of the time both documenting his hope for her Presidency after years of martial law under Marcos and his disappointment at what actually happened. The subtitle is Summing up the Cory Government.

The major drawback of this book is that it is a big tease. Though Salvador Laurel offers "revelatory" insights and behind-the-scenes stories about Cory Aquino’s governance he never explores them. It's all a sketch with a very faint outline. He skips over a great deal during the period of 1986-1987.  For instance, while he makes a big to-do about Cory scraping the constitution and imposing a revolutionary government he never once mentions the newly written Constitution and the 1987 plebiscite. That is a huge and stunning omission. 

Several times he mentions people were secretly advising Cory but he never asks "who." He seems disinterested in that subject as if their identities are obvious and either we should know or perhaps he would rather not say. For instance, Doy notes that Cory Aquino swore to him she would never seek the nomination for the Presidency and to show her sincerity she nominated him at the UNIDO convention. But then she heard a voice from God and decided to run. Doy did not think it was the voice of God speaking:

One day, she told the Cardinal: "I will run. I have decided. My decision was made on December 8." It was the closing of the Marian Year. Cory was then on retreat at the Pink Sisters Convent. "I am sure to run. It is God's will," she repeated.

Our first meeting was at her house on Times Street on Saturday, November 23 at 5:00 p.m. I told her she should not run. "You are are Ninoy's widow. If you run, they will attack you and vilify NInoy. Your victory will be Ninoy's victory but your defeat will also be his defeat. You should not risk that. When you go up a boxing ring and put on gloves, they will hit you even if you are a lady. You should just be our symbol - above and beyond the fray. Let me do the fighting, let me take the blows for you," I said. But she did not answer. It was obvious that she was told just to listen by a hidden group of advisers.

p. 37-38

Why is it obvious she was being advised by a hidden group? Who were these people? Doy refers to this hidden cabal again a few paragraphs later.

Our fifth meeting was held at the Puyat residence in Quezon City. Present were my brother Sotero, Cory's daughter Ballsy, and our host, the late Vincente "Teng" Puyat. On that day, Cory confided to me that she was not really interested in running the government. She simply wanted to be the instrument to remove Marcos. Since she did not know anything about running a government, she said she would be just a ceremonial President, like Queen Elizabeth.

She then offered me the Prime Ministership and promised to step down after two years. She offered 30 percent of the Cabinet, the remaining 70 percent to be appointed after prior consultation between us. All these were written on a piece of paper which she initialed, item by item, on the left margin of the document.

I asked for time to decide. Early the next morning, I left alone for my beach house in Matabungkay. I had to make the hardest decision in my life. I knew Ninoy well. His word was good. But I did not know Cory well enough. Could I trust her? Would her word be as good as Ninoy's? Or was she a mere instrument of her family's interests and her hidden advisers? It was obvious that she has been changing her position and reneging on her words because her secret advisers had been changing her agenda for her.

p. 39

Those are explosive revelations that Salvador Laurel simply does not explore. Not here and not even in his concluding remarks. He never asks who "her secret advisers" might be or what were her family's interests and how they affected her governance. He also never discusses the fact that she said she would step down after two years to make way for Doy. Did he really think Cory offering to step down after two years to make way for him was actually going to happen? Did he really think that it was an ethical offer? He must have since he accepted the offer and later asks her why she reneged on those promises.

These hidden advisers return when Salvador Laurel discusses Cory's decision to abolish the constitution.

I felt it ironic that after abolishing a dictatorship, we should again resort to dictatorial power by abrogating the Constitution and governing by decree. It had become apparent that Cory's manipulators had planned from the very start that they would monopolize power through Cory.

I recall, for instance, that a few minutes before we took our oath on February 25, 1986, Cory showed me the text of her oath of office. I noticed that instead of the phrase "preserve and defend the Constitution of the Philippines," what she had typed out was "preserve and defend the Fundamental Law," obviously prepared by her hidden advisers.

p. 54-55

If "Cory's manipulators had planned from the very start that they would monopolize power through Cory" then it should be rather easy to discover their identities and to figure out exactly what their plan was. Likely it would come through the new Constitution. But Doy skips over that whole period. He does not discuss the writing of the new constitution at all. Not even a blurb. Nothing. Nada. That is a glaring omission of arguably the most important event after EDSA. Why does he do this? He is writing a book exposing the truth about the Cory Aquino administration and he charges her with being manipulated by others seeking to seize power through the abolition of the Constitution and the writing of a new one but he never explores that line of thought. That makes no sense espeically as Laurel is very critical of her decision to trash the 1973 Constitution.

History might have taken a different course if Cory had not abolished the 1973 Constitution. If her avowed objective was to achieve political stability at the earliest possible date, she should have repealed only the Marcos amendments, particularly Amendment No. 6, which had perpetuated one-man-rule. It was like burning a house just to kill a rat.

But Cory chose to burn the entire house. In her attempt to demolish the infrastructure of dictatorship, Cory wrecked the entire political structure and thus delayed and derailed the application of needed solutions to our worsening problems. Her policy of vengeance and retribution likewise fueled a power struggle that would last beyond the end of her term.

p. 59-60

Again, explosive revelation with nothing to back it up. He never gives a single example of "her policy of vengeance and retribution" nor does he discuss this "power struggle." Who was struggling for power? How and to whom did Cory show "vengeance and retribution?"

The issue of the Constitution returns again on page 117. This time Laurel claims he discovered a plot to dissolve Congress and invest the President with legislative powers.

In 1991, I exposed a surreptitious plan to convert Congress into a constituent body with the objective of changing our form of government to the parliamentary system. Although I am not per se against the parliamentary system, the haste and stealth with which the House railroaded Concurrent Resolution No. 42 made it highly suspicious. Not enough time was given for the thorough discussion and deliberation of such a major issue. House Concurrent Resolution No. 42 would convert the Congress into a constituted assembly to amend the Constitution, dissolve both houses of Congress, and then unconstitutionally vest the President with legislative power. Some commentators saw this as an illicit attempt on the part of Cory's manipulators to extend her tenure.

p. 117

That such a brazen plan that Salvador Laurel himself exposed gets only this lame paragraph is brazen in itself. How would this plan have worked exactly? Who were its authors? Why does he refuse to name names? Why does he refuse to discuss who Cory's manipulators might be? Surely Doy was not a stupid man and knew exactly who these people were but he chooses to leave us in the dark.

Laurel does not only brush over the actions of Cory. He brushes over the entire 6 year period of 1986-1992. Here is one example among many.

The most controversial forum took place on March 4, 1991 on the subject of amnesty. At that time, the Secretary of National Defense and the Chief of the AFP were opposed to the idea of a general unconditional amnesty and had proposed instead the grant of a conditional and selective amnesty - a move which stirred very heated discussions. 

I have always maintained that the country's sad star of disunity and disorder is one of the main causes of our economic mess. A nation cannot move forward amidst disunity and disorder. And so we chose "Imperatives of National Unity" as our topic for the sixth CCF.

In preparing for the forum, I met with top military officers in Camp Aguinaldo and visited captured military rebels in their cells. Reports and video tapes of my meetings became the main resource for materials for discussion. A consensus was reached, among others, that the proclamation of a general amnesty accompanied by vigorous institutional reforms, including all-out war against graft and corruption, was the key political solution consistent with the Constitution. 

Because there was yet no Presidential Proclamation of general amnesty to which Congress would concur, the forum urged the President to fill the legal vacuum by issuing a new Presidential Proclamation and to determine once and for all, with the concurrence of Congress, whether such amnesty would be conditional, general or selective. 

p. 119-120

What is he talking about? Amnesty for who and for what? This talk of amnesty comes straight out of nowhere.  At this point in the book it is 1991 and he has mentioned no coups at all except for the one which took place on August 28th, 1987. There were actually nine coups throughout Cory's term. Laurel finally mentions those coups several pages later on pages 135-137 but he says only two were serious. He actually calls the Manila Hotel coup a "cocktail party!"

The Manila Hotel incident of July 6, 1986 was more of a cocktail party than a coup. Although Senator Arturo Tolentino was perhaps dead serious when he proclaimed himself Acting President, the theoretical basis on which he propped himself up was old hat. He claimed that ht legislature had legally proclaimed him and Marcos; but that proclamation had already been superseded  by the EDSA revolt. Besides, nobody was hurt in that tragic-comic episode and the punishment meted out to the conspirators was "thirty push-ups.

p. 136

The Davide Commission report of 1990 gives a completely different account of this so-called "tragic-comic" "cocktail party."

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1990/10oct/199010-Report-Fact-Finding-Commission.pdf

Barely five months after the assumption into office of President Aquino, a group of armed military men and supporters of former President Marcos occupied the Manila Hotel for 37 hours ostensibly demanding constitutional reform and stronger anti-communist measures, on one hand, while declaring their own government, on the other. There were at least 490 fully-armed soldiers and some 5,000 Marcos loyalists who witnessed former Senator, Foreign Minister, and Marcos's Vice-Presidential running mate Arturo Tolentino take his "oath of office" as "acting President" of the Philippines on behalf of Marcos, who was then exiled in Hawaii. The hotel was declared as the temporary "seat of government". 

p. 135

490 fully-armed soldiers and 5,000 Marcos loyalists showed up to the party. On page 142 of the report there is mention of P10 million worth of damages done to the hotel including cancelled bookings caused by this "cocktail party."  A contemporary report from the Chicago Tribune expands on that.

The last time Tolentino was in the Manila Hotel, his supporters had trashed the place. 

The gleaming Italian restaurant, where Tolentino sat behind a starched white table cloth drinking ice water Monday morning, had been littered then with mud, paper cups, spilled rice and chicken bones. 

Carpets had been pulled up and doors had been kicked in. Phones had been ripped from the walls and safe deposit boxes had been pried open. 

In all, hotel officials said there was $500,000 worth of damage, all done in the name of Tolentino, who proudly proclaimed himself the proxy of Marcos. Tolentino and most of his followers managed to avoid any major reprisals for their actions.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-10-14-8603170548-story.html

That's some "cocktail party!" Why does Salvador Laurel dismiss the seriousness and significance of this coup attempt? We shall never know.

One has to wonder what the real agenda behind this book is. Every paragraph is written in such a way as to leave the reader expecting the next revelation. Here is one such revelation.

Cory's claim about having restored democracy has to be examined against the facts. When Cory assumed office, a number of media establishments were found to have been operating under Marcos rule as state enterprises. In line with the principle that the press must be free from government control, a process of restoring these media outfits to their original or rightful owners was set in motion. Cory aborted the process by keeping a number of TV and radio stations on sequestry status.

Up to the end of her term, these sequestered media functioned as propaganda arms of her government, competing with the private media, and unabashedly obfuscating issues in her favor.

p. 143-144

As awful as that sounds Laurel offers no proof for this claim. He does not name a single one of the media establishments she kept as a propaganda arm nor does he show any of the said propaganda. I am not accusing him of lying. I am accusing him of not being forthcoming with the whole truth. From the introduction we are told that the purpose of this work is to assess the Cory Aquino government. But there is no assessment going on here, only a superficial description of events. There is a quick movement from one event to the next focusing primarily on the work of Salvador Laurel and not the governance of Cory Aquino. I suppose he could be forgiven having written this book in 1992 when the long term effects of her administration could not yet be seen. 

If there is anything that could be called an assessment of Cory Aquino's presidency it is the oft cited "love letter" Laurel wrote to her on August 13, 1988. Here are a few excerpts.

We promised our people morality and decency in government. What do we have instead? The very opposite. It is now openly admitted by many, including your former Solicitor-General and some of your own close relatives in Congress, that the stench of “accumulated garbage” — I’m quoting your own first cousin, Congressman Emigdio Tanjuatco, Jr. — rises to high heaven; that the last years of Marcos are now beginning to look no worse than your first two years in office. And the reported controversies and scandals involving your closest relatives have become the object of our people’s outrage. 

We promised to ‘break the back’ of the insurgency. But what is the record? From 16,500 NPA regular when Marcos fell, the communists now claim an armed strength of 25,200, of which 2,500 are in Metro Manila. They have infiltrated not only the trade unions, the schools, the churches and the media but your government, above all, and now ‘affect’ 20 percent of the country’s 42,000 barangays, according to official statistics. 

The truth is that the peace and order situation is much worse today than when you came into office. It is now the number one problem of the nation. 

From city to countryside, anarchy has spread. There is anarchy within the government, anarchy within the ruling coalesced parties, and anarchy in the streets. These require your direct intervention. Yet you continue to ignore this problem.

p. 90-95

Once again these are scathing accusations that he has chosen not to explore or mention except for in this letter. Just before the text of this letter begins Laurel gives the context for which he has written it. Laurel had been ordered by Aquino to resign as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the stupidest reason possible.

All I could make out was that she wanted the resignation of the entire Cabinet, including mine - all because Joker Arroyo and Joe Concepcion "had shouted at each other" in her presence.

p. 84

In an interview in August 1988 with Louie Beltran, Salvador Laurel gave a completely different answer as to why he resigned. He said it was because there was no counterinsurgency program being implemented by the administration.

5:25 Louie Beltran: When you were in the Cabinet were you aware of any counterinsurgency program being implemented by the administration?

Salvador Laurel: None and that is the reason I resigned as Foreign secretary.

What are we to make of this admission in light of the book which was written 4 years later? These reasons for resigning contradict each other.

A few days later, this is in September 1987, Doy and Cory met. He finally unburdened himself in front of her.

"Whatever happened to all those promises you made, Cory? Why was the constitution abolished without even telling me? Why did you appoint me Chariman of the Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate the behest loans only to be suddenly abolished again? Why am I now being asked to submit courtesy resignation - just because Joker Arroyo and Joe Concepcion has a shouting match?

Cory looked down and gave a halting reply: "I was told... that the EDSA revolution... erased all those promises..."

I did not bother to ask who had told her so. Everybody was quiet. Doña Aurora's head was power as if in prayer. I broke the silence. "If that's the case, Cory, there is nothing more to talk about."

p. 88

Cory asked what he was going to do now? Would he join the opposition? 

"No. Not yet. I want this government to succeed. I don't want to see it fail. I've worked hard, sacrificed so much, to bring it to power. I'll wait for a year. I'll support you whenever you are right. I'll disagree with you wen you are wrong. I'll only oppose you when you insist on being wrong."

I kept my word. I waited a full year. But I could not see where she was going. The nation was adrift. Government had no direction. "Rela-thieves" and "Kamag-anaks, Inc." were on the rampage. Corruption, vindictiveness, ineptitude and hypocrisy had started to rear their ugly heads.

p. 89

It is maddening to read this. Laurel waited a full year watching the government taking note of what was happening, concluded it was getting worse all the time, and then he penned his "love letter" of August 13th, 1988. Why then does he give no specifics? Surely he had them in hand or else he could not have penned that letter. Or maybe he did not have the specifics. After all he could not even bring himself to ask Cory who told her that EDSA erased all the promises she made to Laurel. 

Without further elaboration these are merely broad and sweeping accusations. The vagueness of these accusations have been useful to those who would seek to return to the so-called golden years of the Marcos regime. They point to Laurel's complaints without the burden of proof because of the authority Salvador Laurel possessed as Vice President and an insider in the Cory Aquino administration. Why would the former Vice Preisdent lie? I am not calling him a liar. I am saying we need something more concrete than mere accusations.

While this book is an important historical document it leaves much to be desired. It is used by many Marcos revisionists to paint Cory as a devil who set out to destroy the legacy of Marcos. This is especially the case with the incident where Laurel was summoned by Marcos to Hawaii. There he was told to relay the following message to President Aquino:

“Please tell Mrs. Aquino to stop sending her relatives to me," he continued. "They are proposing  so many things. I have already established a foundation and I am turning over 90% of all my worldly possessions to the Filipino people. Enrique Zobel has all the papers. He and the Papal Nuncio, Msgr. Torpigliani, will sit in the Board to see to it that 90% of all that I have are properly distributed to our people. That is much better than what Mrs' Aquino's relatives have been proposing. I am leaving only 10% for my family."

p. 108

Salvador Laurel then goes on to relate that Cory would not see him so he could deliver the message. However she did allot an hour to meet with Tom Cruise. He calls this her greatest mistake and says she could have solved the Marcos wealth problem once and for all if she had only accepted the message. I will discuss this tantalizing episode in-depth in a future article. Suffice to say once again Laurel leaves a lot out and does not tell the whole story.

There is not much more to discuss about the book. It has a lot of shortcomings and they are not exactly made up for. Far from being a summation of the Cory government it is a personal memoir written from one man's viewpoint. There is nothing wrong with that per se but it deprives the reader of any nuance or context in many places. The text is in dire need of annotations. As for the strange title "Neither Trumpets nor Drums" we get an explanation in the last chapter.

In the tradition of heraldry, the trumpet served as the symbol of victory or the birth of a new day. Drums, on the other hand, always preceded an execution, their persistent, percussive sound signifying death or a burial, the end of something evil.

The Cory government, by remaining indifferent to the popular glamour for change, failed to herald a new ear for our country or to bury the traditional forces of cronyism, favoritism, corruption and greed.

p. 150

For as much as Salvador Laurel is critical of Cory Aquino's administration it is very important to point out that he never once whitewashes the Marcos dictatorship. He never apologizes for Marcos. He never indicates in any way that life under Marcos was much better than under Cory or that Cory was worse than Marcos. But that hasn't stopped people from twisting his words.

https://twitter.com/ilda_talk/status/1272667107570802694

Cory’s late former Vice President Doy Laurel had something to say about this. He wrote an open scathing letter to Cory outlining the deception she, her family and allies did. She betrayed him and the people. In so many words, he said Cory became worse than Marcos.

Such an analysis by one of the editors of Get Real Philippines is monumentally moronic and proof positive that she has not read this book and does not understand the letter to which she is referring. At no point in this book or in that love letter does Laurel indicate that "Cory became worse than Marcos." On pages 5-8 he gives a scathing indictment of the Marcos regime starting off by noting, "Our country was not free." Any Marcos revisionists looking to use this book for their purpose should keep that in mind.