Convicted Felon and United States Fugitive Bongbong Marcos Has Won the Philippines Presidential Election

The greatest spin in the history of Philippine politics was completed on May 9th, 2022 as Bongbong Marcos, a convicted felon and wanted man in the USA, won more than 30 million votes to secure his position as the next President of the Philippines. 

Lacking any accomplishments worthy of the office of the President except being born into the Marcos family and bearing the name of his father Bongbong was able to fool enough voters into believing he is the man worthy to lead the Philippines for the next six yers. He garnered a large majority which landed him way past all the other candidates, especially his main rival Leni Robredo. There are trolls out in the social media sphere who claim this proves that Marcos was cheated in the 2016 elections when Robredo came from behind and snatched the office of Vice President from his hands.

Celebrities are irrelevant? Tell that to Robin Padilla who won more than 20 million votes to secure a seat in the Senate, a job for which he is by no means qualified. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1549310/robin-padilla-says-ejk-part-of-crime-fighting-duterte-drug-war-most-successful

Great job everybody!

Contrary to this DDS and Marcos revisionist with the ironic name Facts Only and nonsensical handle which indicates he is a troll (his account has since been deleted), the recount gave Leni MORE votes proving beyond all doubt that she duly won the 2016 VP  race. But these trolls are not interested in proof. Nor does Bongbong's win prove that EDSA was fake. All his election proves is that he got enough votes to win. But why did he get enough votes to win? How is it that the scion of the former dictator and plunderer of the Philippines was able to reclaim the throne for his family? Because of a massive amount of spin. 

Rigoberto Tiglao is one of the most high profile spin doctors in this nation. For the past six years he has done nothing but bloviate against the duly elected Vice President, Leni Robredo, and write article after article extolling the virtues of the Marcoses and bemoaning the evils of the Aquinos. Rather than address the promises that EDSA failed to deliver and give solutions on how they might be solved he, along with a host of others, has done a lot of hard work, i.e mudslinging, to dismiss EDSA as a CIA led fake revolution that should never have happened because Marcos was a stand up guy whom everybody loved and who the nation needed.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/05/09/opinion/columns/genuine-people-power-will-occur-today-at-the-polls/1842932

THE real, authentic expression of the people's will occurs today.

Unlike the bogus ones in 1986 and 2001 which were a Machiavellian mix of mobs and the threat of the use of force, this people power today will be expressed through secret ballots cast by at least 60 percent of voting citizens, who after more than a year of careful deliberation and relentless black propaganda by the Yellow elite, choose Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as their president.

The 1986 "People Power" hardly represented Filipinos' voice. Even using the reports of the Yellow-controlled vote counter, the Namfrel (National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections), nearly half (47 percent) of Filipinos still wanted BBM's father as president. The official Comelec results showed him the winner with 54 percent of votes. The US cleverly engineered a massing of warm bodies in front of Camp Crame with the people mostly there not demanding to topple Marcos but as Cardinal Sin told them, to prevent the bloody take-out of the mutineers holed up there.

The Communist Party, on the other hand, called for a full mobilization of their forces at its favorite target since the late 1960s, Malacañang, and were set to ram the gates — to be slaughtered by the Presidential Security Group, headed by Gen. Fabian Ver's two sons. Whether fearful of his life or, as he would claim later, to prevent bloodshed, Marcos rightly chose to vacate Malacañang, to move to his home province of Ilocos Norte, and the US offered to airlift him. After Cory Aquino was told about this, she demanded for Marcos to be shanghaied to Hawaii.

C'mon, is that People Power?

There you have it. Everything about the past 36 years has been based on a lie. EDSA was engineered by the US and the Communist Party. The real people power will be when the Marcos family is restored to the highest office in the land which is where they would have remained but for the Machiavellian machinations of Cory Aquino. But Tiglao is not done here.

Why do I say today will be the real People Power phenomenon? Most likely 64 percent to as high as 70 percent of Filipinos will vote BBM into power, based on polls and incorporating other factors not captured by polls, such as command votes for BBM (by the INC (Iglesia ni Cristo) among others) and bandwagon thinking among Filipinos.

This will be in total defiance of the elites who embrace the Yellow world view, the Church, American and international media, and the most powerful and most meddlesome nation on earth, the US — all of which for various, different reasons have thrown everything they can at BBM.

Tiglao is nuts. Marcos will win the vote in defiance of the Church, the USA, and International media? Does this hack not know that Filipinos LOVE the Church and the USA? Is he really that daft? No one voted for Marcos thinking, "Screw the USA and the Church." What a moron. They voted for Bongbong because they have been the victims of a massive and years long campaign to paint his father as the savior of this nation and all his opposers as evil liars who destroyed the promise he offered the Philippines.

But the bigger question Filipinos must really ask themselves on May 9 is what kind of a nation sends someone like Bongbong Marcos to even higher public office? A morally bankrupt nation of naïve and gullible voters who have set themselves up for more lies and evasions of the truth, that’s what. People have been sold a bill of goods once before; will they continue to buy more of the same toxic, made-in-Batac fairy tales? Seen from across the Pacific, there is more blind loyalty, sheer bullheadedness and self-delusion. It doesn’t seem like a people who have learned and learned deeply from a bitter past.

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/opinion-what-happens-if-bongbong-marcos-becomes-vice-president

This person gets right to the heart of the matter while Tiglao deflects from the truth about Marcos and about the people. They haven't come out of the dark and into the light. They have descended into the depths of darkness leaving the light of truth far behind. Or rather they have been bamboozled, blindfolded, and gaslighted by the Marcos family and men such as Rigoberto Tiglao who have decided to recast Ferdinand Marcos Sr. as just a little bit less than Jesus Christ or Lee Kuan Yew.

Secondly, data from surveys explain why BBM will win by a majority. His win will mainly be because of the conjunction of two phenomena. The Yellows (now Finks) refuse to see these phenomena that they have resorted to cockamamie theories that the BBM camp has effectively spread lies in social media, or that the youth voters have no recollection of martial law. (That social media has become dominant in people's voting choices has absolutely no empirical basis at all. There is roughly the same percentage of pro-BBM voters in all age cohorts.)

Cockamamie theories!? 

Is Rigoberto Tiglao really unaware that lies have been spread all over social media about the so-called Golden Age of Marcos? It is a undeniable fact that Marcos trashed the economy and plunged the nation into debt all while giving his cronies a piece of the pie and that he imprisoned and tortured thousands of people of which Tiglao was one. Yet the public has been told it was a Golden Age when much infrastructure was built and the nation was disciplined into shape by the loving whip of Marcos. The public is also told that Bongbong is a graduate of Oxford when in fact all he has is a special diploma. Bongbong is a bonafide liar! The entire public image presented by the Marcos family is a lie.

Indeed the Marcos family has been the subject of much disinformation especially during these past six years as Duterte has undermined the institutions of this nation and swayed the public into believing lies about its past starting with Marcos being a hero worthy of a hero's burial. Everything the Marcoses have said about the reign of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. has been a complete fabrication. There is a trail of court documents proving that the Marcos family stole billions from the coffers of the Philippines. Yet the people refuse to believe what was once widely known and is backed up by a massive amount of irrefutable evidence. 

The votes for BBM thus mean the majority of Filipinos judging that martial law wasn't the "Dark Age" the Yellows, and especially Robredo, have been shrieking against. Such will be done after years of being bombarded by Finks' black propaganda against BBM and mythologizing Robredo to cartoonish and then religious levels.

The third big factor for BBM's lead is his personality itself, which many think make him an ideal president: articulate, knowledgeable, diplomatic and not quarrelsome, intelligent and experienced in government — qualities that Robredo definitely lacks. If BBM for instance was as arrogant as Isko Moreno, or as inarticulate in English as Manny Pacquiao, as vacuous and inexperienced as Robredo, it would have been a steep uphill climb to the presidency, even with the two political titans pushing him up.

There has never been in our history two viewpoints dominant among our people — that the Duterte and Marcos Sr. regimes were good for the country — that are the powerful engines for the victory of a presidential candidate. No amount of gimmicks — faking crowds in rallies, ridiculous imaging attempts, endorsements by celebrities and by whatever groups — can stop these engines.

This right here is Tiglao's main argument. It is the main argument of many who seek to rehabilitate the Marcos family. The facts of history depend not on what actually happened but on what the people THINK happened. Court records and eyewitness testimony be damned! Thus any figure from the past is liable to being reimaged in the public's mind given the right PR campaign. In the USA Thomas Jefferson and George Washington have been reduced from beloved Founding Fathers to abominable slave owners in the space of a few decades. Likewise in the Philippines the Marcos family has gone from shunned kleptocrats to mythologized and beloved saviors of this nation. 

It cannot be doubted that the failures of living up to the promise of EDSA is to blame for a lot of that mythologizing. If Cory Aquino and her successors had come along and actually been up to the task of restructuring, reworking, and rebuilding the Philippines then we might not be here today seeing the son of the dictator being handed the reins of power by the very same people his father once oppressed.

But corruption is a given at every level of government in the Philippines. Cory was a housewife who won solely because she was the widow of Marcos' rival, Benigno Aquino Sr. She is the face of Philippine necropolitics which is all too prevalent in this nation because assassins routinely gun down political opponents and their spouses rise up to bear the mantle on their shoulders. She had no plans to run and no idea what to do when she decided to run but listened whole heartedly to her advisers as her VP Doy Laurel confessed.

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.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2022/01/book-review-neither-trumpets-nor-drums.html 

But should she be blamed for not rectifying everything Ferdinand Marcos destroyed? Cory was literally working with NOTHING because Marcos had stripped the nation bare. Even her husband knew that the absence of Marcos would leave a vacuum.

MJ: So you believe that Marcos really is the key?

AQUINO: I've already said that. In 1973 I wrote him a memo. I wrote him a detailed memo on how to bring the country back on track. He picked up a few points in that memo: he lifted martial law as I suggested; he called for elections as I suggested. But he was very selective. He liked the points that dovetailed with his own ideas. But other matters, which could have completed the picture, he junked. Still., I've always held that Marcos is the key, and if he goes tomorrow, by George, the Philippines is going to have a hell of a time until someone else emerges from the scramble. 

MJ: What if you were that person? 

AQUINO: If you made me president of the Philippines today, my friend, in six months I would be smelling like horseshit. Because there's nothing I can do. I cannot provide employment. I cannot bring prices down. I cannot stop the criminality spawned by economic difficulties. I mean, let's face it. When people are hungry, you can bring down St. Peter and you won't get a stable government. So, this must be anchored collectively on the free world. 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2022/04/a-conversation-with-benigno-aquino-1983.html 

If Cory is to be blamed then even more so her advisers who knew how to manipulate her.

We can't judge the meaning or truth of EDSA based solely on the outcome. When the Philippines declared independence in 1898 and sent out delegations to foreign nations to have that independence recognized they were turned down. True independence did not come until 1946. But that does not stop Filipinos from celebrating Independence Day as June 12th, 1898. Likewise EDSA had noble intentions even if they were not fully realized. The solution is to carry out those promises, not to glorify or seek to return to a past which was objectively bad and has been documented so through every metric used to analyze the years Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was president.

During the next six years we are going to see people crowing about how EDSA was a lie and how Marcos was actually a savior because his son Bongbong won the presidency. We are going to see convicted felon Imelda Marcos strutting through the Palace reliving her salad days. We are going to see history rewritten even though it stands written firmly in the blood of those who lived through and died during the Marcos dictatorship as well as in court records convicting the Marcos family of financial crimes. This crowing will be based not on facts but on appeals to emotion. After all, if the people voted for Bongbong surely that means his father was not so bad after all. Right? 

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.

Did Cory Aquino Really Have Lunch with Tom Cruise in 1989?

Did Cory Aquino really have lunch with Tom Cruise when he was in the Philippines filming Born on the Fourth of July back in 1989? Why even ask? Because this event is used by Marcos revisionists to paint Marcos as a saint who wished to give 90% of his wealth to the Filipino people and Cory as an evil woman who spurned that offer. Let's take a look at this strange tale.

This story originates in former Vice President under Cory Aquino Salvador Laurel's book Neither Trumpets nor Drums. Laurel was summoned by Marcos to visit him in Hawaii on February 3-4 1989. During that visit Marcos had a confidential message he wanted given 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 

Upon his return to the Philippines Doy went to visit Cory in order to relay the message but she refused to see him. He notes that she "allotted an hour to Tom Cruise."

I hurried back to Manila to transmit Marcos' message to President Aquino. I asked for an appointment but Cory would not see me. Here I was, her own Vice President, asking only for three minutes of her time to convey a very important message from her predecessor, and she would not see me. I was told she was busy. Later I was told that she allotted an hour to Tom Cruise, the American movie actor.

p. 108

Laurel then wrote Cory a letter imploring her to receive Marcos' message.

"I hope you will find time to listen to the highly confidential message of Mr. Marcos considering its serious import and far-reaching consequences upon your administration and the nation as a whole"

Cory replied:

"I have since Friday, February 3rd, received a copy of the letter of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. As to the highly confidential message from Ferdinand E. Marcos, I feel that in the light of your representation of its 'serious import and far-reaching consequences upon your (my) administration and the nation as a whole, such a message should be disclosed to the public rather than kept confidential. This is in accordance with my announced policy of utmost transparency in the management of the affairs of the country."

p. 108-109

He writes a reply hoping she will change her mind and receive the message directly from him but she refuses. He then assesses this situation calling her refusal to receive the message "her biggest mistake."

Cory's refusal to receive Marcos' message was perhaps her biggest mistake. Had she received the message openmindedly, and studied it carefully, she might have obtained enough money to pay off half of our foreign debt and only 20 percent of the budget would have to be set aside for debt service. The other 20 percent would have freed billions of pesos for infrastructure, roads, peace and order, education, etc.

p. 110

He then cites an unnamed commentator who had this to say about Cory's refusal to receive Marcos' message.

"With the decision of the Hawaii court that victims of the Marcos' martial law atrocities, brutalities and inhumanities are entitled to payment 

"How much would 90 percent of Marcos' money be? If he had squirreled away $10 billion, the top figure mentioned bu those who speculated on Marcos' wealth, the government would have received $9 billion. 

"How much shoring up of a faltering government could have been done? Unless Marcos had specified as condition that the money he was returning would be for specific purposes like paying the foreign debt, it is possible that Cory would have channeled most of it to her favorite projects  like the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). She would probably not have turned the money to the treasury to be appropriated by the Congress. Perhaps, unless Marcos has specified the uses of his money, it might have been dissipated in other favorite projects of Cory.

"But if the $9 billion would have been utilized properly, the country would have been lifted from its status as a beggar nation. With wise planning and honest spending, the Philippines might have had a chance to become one of the tigers of Southeast Asia.

"There is nothing sadder than what might have been. It is even sadder than being the basket case of Asia-Pacific. To have had $9 billion on hand and squandered it on favorite projects, the tragedy would have been double. So, the way things actually turned out might have been better than becoming  suddenly a rich nation that did not know how to make its riches permanent. Under Cory, there would have been very little chance that matters would have materially improved.

"The biggest error of the Cory administration was to spurn Doy and the message he carried from Honolulu."

p. 111

Whoever wrote that commentary is a real piece of work. He starts off saying so much good could have been done had Cory received the message and the money from Marcos. Then he says Cory would have wasted it anyway so its probably better the money was not received. Then he finishes by saying her biggest error was to spurn Doy and his message and thus not receive the money. Pick a scenario please! Either Cory would have wasted the money or she would not have wasted the money. If it was her biggest mistake to not receive the message and money then that assumes she would not have wasted it. 

Of course these scenarios rest on the assumption that Marcos would actually have given 90% of his wealth or $9 billion to the Philippines. But did you know that there is more to the story? Imelda Marcos was dead set against the idea.

Anyway. Doy Laurel was approaching the core of his conversation with Ferdinand Marcos. The dying ex-president chose his words carefully: "I have decided to donate to the Philippine government and the Filipino people 90 percent of the Marcos wealth. We the Marcos family will get only 10 percent and no more. I want that to be very clear. I want you to communicate that to President Aquino. We will take care of the details later." Laurel was dumbfounded. The amount of wealth was not mentioned but the estimate at that time was about 10 to 15 billion US dollars. In any language – fantabulous! 

But right there and then in the hospital, Laurel realized the whole thing, the proffered donation, what seemed to be the last will of the dying ex-dictator, wouldn’t work. Imelda, according to Laurel, heard the whole conversation. And she told Doy as he left Marcos’ bed – this according to Doy – that they, the Marcoses, particularly she, Imelda, would only agree to 70 to 75 percent going to the government, while they would retain 25 to 30 percent. "Ten percent is out of the question," she said. Imelda held dominion and that was that. The empress dowager had spoken. 

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2001/12/05/142497/doy-macoy-yorac-corner

Why did Laurel not include his exchange with Imelda in his book? Her refusal sheds more light on this situation. Knowing that Laurel knew this offer would not work reveals that there was nothing for Cory to refuse in the first place because Imelda would not have let it happen. So, why paint a picture of him pleading with Cory to a receive a message which he knew would ultimately be fruitless?

But did Marcos actually say he would give 90% of his wealth to the government? No. He did not say that. Here is his message:

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.

Marcos said he had ALREADY established a foundation and he said, "I AM TURNING OVER 90% OF ALL MY WORLDLY POSSESSIONS TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE." There is no offer here. There is nothing contingent about his turning over 90% of his wealth. This is a pledge. Marcos said he had already set up a foundation to distribute his wealth.  The Papal Nuncio and Filipino businessman Erinque Zobel were appointed to the Board to oversee this distribution. There is nothing said about giving a one time lump sum to the government. From the sound of it the foundation would have distributed the money to the people directly. 

The real issue in this situation is not that Cory refused the message and thus the money. The real issue is that Marcos did not follow through on his promise to set up a foundation through which he would distribute his money directly to the Filipino people. Doy and the commentator are both wrong in their assessment of this event. Even Wikipedia gets this story wrong referring to Marcos' pledge as an offer.

During the meeting with Laurel, Marcos offered to return 90% of his ill-gotten wealth to the Filipino people in exchange for being buried back in the Philippines beside his mother, an offer also disclosed to Enrique Zobel. However, Marcos's offer was rebuffed by the Aquino government and by Imelda Marcos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos#Death_and_burial

At least this article mentions Imelda's refusal to go along with her husband's plan. 

What happened to the foundation Marcos claimed he had already established? The roots of this pledge extend back to the end of 1969. On December 31, 1969 Marcos wrote in his diary that he had planned to set up a foundation to distribute all his worldly goods to the Filipino people.

https://philippinediaryproject.wordpress.com/1970/01/01/january-1-1970/

I have today given away by general instrument of transfer all my worldly possessions to the Filipino people through a foundation to be organized known as the Marcos Foundation. 

Moved by the strongest desire and the purest will to set the example of self-denial and self-sacrifice for all our people, I have today decided to give away all my worldly possessions so that they may serve the greater needs of the greater number of our people.

It is my wish that these properties will be used in advancing education, science, technology and the arts. 

This act I undertake of my own free will, knowing that my need of material possessions will, having always been a simple man, my needs will always be lesser that those of many of our people, who have given me the highest honor within their gift, an honor unshared by any one of my predecessors and not likely to be shared by any one else in the future no other Filipino leader.

Since about a year ago, I have asked my closest some of very my closest confidants to study the mechanics of this decision. Today studies have been completed, and a foundation will be formed to administer these properties and all funds that may be generated therefrom.

My wife, Imelda, is in agreement with this decision. Provisions will be made for my children, so that they shall be assured of satisfactory education and be prepared to meet their lifetime duties and endeavors. 

For the moment, my most sincere hope is that this humble act shall set the example and move to greater deeds of unselfishness and compassion, many of our countrymen whose position in society gives them a stronger duty to minister to the needs of our less fortunate brothers and countrymen.

It seems that he never did establish the foundation he had dreamt of in 1969 as it was Enrique Zobel who in 1989 suggested that he establish a foundation to distribute his wealth.

From Zobel's deposition before a Blue Ribbon Committee in Hawaii on October 27, 1999 we read the following about the genesis of this foundation:

THE  CHAIRMAN.  All right.  You also indicated in  the  same affidavit,   paragraph  10,  that you  suggested  to   him   the establishment  of a foundation for the interest of  the Filipino people. Can you tell this Committee what his  reaction to  that suggestion?

MR.  ZOBEL.    He said, that was an excellent idea  and,  in fact, he has--if I do this, would you please be the chairman.   I said,  Mr. President, if I am the chairman, I will be sued  right and  left  by the people in Manila for envy, so please why  don't you  choose  someone  Filipinos will not sue.  Then he  asked  me who?   I said, well, the Vatican.   So, he said, excellent  idea. Could you please arrange to talk to Papal  Nuncio in Manila,  who was Torpigliani then.

The foundation was ultimately not put into force.

THE  CHAIRMAN.  All right.   Now, let's pursue the  question of  the  establishment  of  a  foundation.   Can  you  tell  this Committee whether or not the foundation was, in fact, formed?

MR.  ZOBEL.   It was not formed.   The Papal Nuncio,  I  was able to talk to him through Father Alarcon who brought me to  his residence  in front of La Salle, and he went to Rome.   He  first came, talked to the President and the President made a confession with  him but he can't tell to the priest.  But he went  to  Rome and  he  got the foundation  but instead of the Vatican,  it  was Torpigliani, which was the--he had the title changed in Rome.  It should  be  the trust of the Vatican.  That was the  only  thing. Otherwise, everything was in order.

Zobel had set everything up with a lawyer.

THE CHAIRMAN.  It will have more weight. Now,  regarding  the formation of this foundation,  did  you have to employ the services of a lawyer?

MR.  ZOBEL.   Yes.   I  employed the services  of  Mr.  Mike Garcia, who is a lawyer in Honolulu.  In fact, he charged me  the bill because Marcos died so I have to pay the bill which is 4,000 dollar.  I have the receipt here.

Zobel then testified that Marcos was unable to sign any documents because the local doctor would not allow him to since he was not mentally competent. Two Filipino doctors were summoned to certify Marcos' lucidity but they were barred by the Bureau of Immigration from leaving the country.

THE CHAIRMAN.  All right.   Now, regarding your meeting with Vice  President Laurel, can you tell this Committee what was  the tenor of your conversation with him?

MR.  ZOBEL.   Yes.   There  were two  things--two  important things  came  about.  One was to send two doctors, I  forgot  the names,   and  I  have the record of their flight, everything was arranged.   To check if Marcos could really talk or not,  because the  doctor here said, he could not and so we could not establish the  foundation.    But  at the airport,  then  health  secretary Bengzon stopped them at Immigration, didn't allow them to  board, upon orders of Cory.

Zobel testified that Vice President Laurel told him that the two doctors summoned to certify Marcos' lucidity to sign the documents establishing the foundation were prevented from leaving the country on the orders of Cory. 

Why does Salvador Laurel not mention this fact in his book Neither Trumpets nor Drums? He mentions that Marcos said he set up a foundation but he neglects to tell us that he was not lucid enough to actually sign any legal documents and needed two Filipino doctors to give the ok and that they were prevented from leaving the country on orders of Cory Aquino. Why? That is very pertinent information which makes his analysis that Cory's biggest mistake was her refusal to receive Marcos' message just plain wrong. By February 1989 Marcos was in no state to be setting up a foundation or making any decision about what to do with his wealth. It also raises the question of why these doctors were prevented from leaving. Did Cory know that they were going to certify Marcos as being lucid so he could sign documents establishing a foundation? But that would mean she knew the content of Marcos' secret message before Laurel returned from Hawaii and asked for an audience. Something is missing here.

The deposition continues: 

SEN.  FLAVIER.  I see.   In sum, the foundation never really got born, so to speak?

MR. ZOBEL.   Because the doctors  did not allow him to sign. But  you see that foundation of his gold was revocable until  the government had agreed on the two conditions, that would  be  come automatically irrevocable.

SEN.  FLAVIER.    I see. And so it was that illness  that prevented the final signing of the foundation papers?

MR.  ZOBEL.    No.   His health, the local doctor would  not certify....They would certify that he was capable of  knowing  he was signing.

SEN.  FLAVIER.   I see. It was the certification that he was lucid and able to sign that document?

MR. ZOBEL.  Correct.

SEN.  FLAVIER.  Those two doctors I happened to  know,  then Dr. Sawit  and Dr. Alano were notallowed to come?

MR.  ZOBEL.   Were not allowed to leave Manila Airport  when they had the tickets on hand.

SEN. FLAVIER.  Did you get an inkling of why?

MR.  ZOBEL.    Well, according to Doy, he told me  that  the doctors were stopped by an order to Immigration from Secretary of Health which was Bengzon.   Bengzon ba? 

SEN. FLAVIER.  Yes.

MR.  ZOBEL.   Bengzon.  That's what the Vice President told me.

Zobel says that the foundation was revocable until the two conditions, being buried in the Philippines and his family protected from government prosecution, were met which gives weight to this being an offer and not a mere pledge. But coupled with Marcos' exact words to Doy Laurel and his desire in 1969 to set up a foundation to transfer his wealth to the Filipino people it would seem that it was more of a pledge than an offer. If Marcos had signed the documents it would be hard to imagine him suddenly revoking the whole thing because two conditions were not met. At least if he were serious about helping out his countrymen it would seem unlikely he would revoke the foundation. 

Here is how the foundation would have worked:

THE CHAIRMAN.    All right.  I think we can resume.Mr.  Zobel,  will  you  kindly tell this  Committee  if  you remember the terms of  that--the term of sharing of the wealth of Mr. Marcos as put into the foundation agreement?

MR. ZOBEL. It's in the Vatican trust.  But if I recall right, 10 percent would go to the Marcos family, the wife and children. 

THE CHAIRMAN. Ten percent. 

MR.  ZOBEL. Ten percent would go to the Vatican  for  the poor people and in the missions. 

THE CHAIRMAN.   And in the... 

MR.  ZOBEL.   In the missions for the Vatican to dispose of. One percent to the people in Hawaii that were loyal to him. And then I don't know. But the rest would go to the foundation to be used specifically or schools, hospitals and infrastructure and agriculture.

This set-up would leave only 79% for the Filipino people which is less than the amount Marcos promised to Laurel. Note that none of that money is going to the government coffers generally but is specified to be used in certain sectors. It is not clear that the money would even be distributed through government agencies though that is likely.

Even if Cory had agreed to what Marcos had planned the foundation would never have been a reality. In the first place Marcos was in no state to legally consent to such a plan as he was bedridden in the ICU and he could not even talk due to a tracheotomy. Local doctors would not approve of his signing any legal documents so Zobel was reduced to hiring two Filipino doctors travel to Hawaii so they could clear Marcos. Even if they had been allowed to travel by the BI their decision to clear Marcos as being lucid would have been highly unethical and likely have been challenged successfully in court if anyone cared to do so. Second of all Imelda was dead set against this idea as she told Doy Laurel she wanted to keep 30% of the wealth. With these very real factors considered (Marcos' incapacity due to poor health and Imelda's resistance) one cannot blame Cory Aquino for keeping Marcos from distributing his wealth to the Filipino people by "rejecting his offer." Marcos had ample time to set up the foundation he had first proposed back in 1969. Marcos would remain in the ICU until his death on September 28th, 1989. 

These facts do not even take into account the question of just how much wealth Marcos had and how much of it was his lawfully. If Zobel's testimony is to be believed Marcos had amassed much more than $10 billion dollars.

THE  CHAIRMAN.  So,  are you telling  the  Committee,  Mr. Zobel,  that  there is basis for this figure  of  the  amount  of Marcos wealth running to several billions of U.S. dollars?

MR.  ZOBEL.  Yes. I would take gold, assets and  dollars over  all comments  even  bank certificates,  I  would  say 100 billion.

That is Zobel's estimate of the value of Marcos' fortune. Truly a mind-boggling sum in every way.

Several foundations were set-up by Marcos but none of them were for the purpose of transferring his wealth to the Filipino people. They were all used to hide his assets. These include the Xandy Foundation, the Trinidad Foundation, the Azizo Foundation, the Rosayls Foundation, the Charis Foundation, and the Rayby Foundation. See more at this link.

But what about Tom Cruise? Did Cory meet him? From Doy's account it would appear she met with him for an hour. The South China Morning Post greatly expands on this story.

Actually, Doy was the last Filipino politician to talk to Marcos before he died in Hawaii. Marcos gave him a final message to deliver to his nemesis, Cory Aquino, but when Doy arrived at Malacanang Palace to see Cory he was told that she was unable to see him because of a pressing engagement (which turned out to be lunch with Hollywood star Tom Cruise).

https://www.scmp.com/article/43566/coy-doy-stays-quiet-reasons-visit

Lunch with Tom Cruise sounds pretty awesome. But did it really happen? No. The appointed visit was scheduled a few days before Doy Laurel returned from Hawaii. Tom was late and Cory did not want to wait around for him.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/31/Quirks-in-the-News/6774602226000/

Despite pleas from her daughter to wait for a 'chance of a lifetime' meeting with actor Tom Cruise, President Corazon Aquino went home Monday when the Hollywood star failed to appear on time.

'Hey, Kris, I waited for them.

Just tell them I waited,' Aquino told her daughter before departing the presidential palace. Aquino is known for her punctuality -- a trait uncommon among Filipinos.

'Please mom, it's a chance of a lifetime,' said Kris, an aspiring actress who will turn 18on Valentine's Day.

Presidential palace aides said Aquino was as excited as her daughter in meeting Cruise.

Kris Aquino had invited Cruise to the presidential palace before his departure for the United States after filming the Vietnam War film 'Fourth of July' in the Philippines.

Cruise, accompanied by his wife, Mimi Rogers, strolled into the palace wearing a black air force cap, printed polo shirt over blue denims and rubber shoes long after the president had left.

'I am sorry you missed my mom,' said Kris to Cruise.

A later article says Cruise was 5 minutes late so Cory left.

How do we reconcile this with Doy's account? It's not very hard. Doy was told by someone else that Cory had allotted an hour to meet with Tom Cruise. He never says Cory actually met with Tom Cruise. But the way the book is written it appears that Cory would not meet with Doy BECAUSE she was meeting with Tom Cruise. That is exactly how the SCMP frames the event. In fact they even expand the narrative calling it a lunch. Only Kris Aquino knows for sure what happened but I do not have the privilege of being able to ask her. I bet she has pictures.