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  • 2021-09-22 (xsd:date)
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  • Posts make false claim about how ex-Philippine dictator Marcos acquired his wealth (en)
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  • Social media posts shared hundreds of times claim the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and an associate became the richest men in the whole world in 1949 after a client paid them 30% commission from 640,000 metric tons of gold. The posts are false. The Philippine Supreme Court ruled multiple times that Marcos accumulated his wealth through fraud. To date, only 244,000 metric tons of gold have been discovered in the world in its entirety, according to the US Geological Survey. The claim was shared in this Tagalog-language Facebook post on September 26, 2020. It reads: Atty. Ferdinand Marcos and Father Jose Antonio Diaz were declared the richest men in the whole world in 1949 when they received 30% commission from 640,000 metric tons of gold. Marcos was still just a lawyer and not yet president then but he was already the richest individual in the whole world. The post includes a collage that shows Marcos on the left. He was Philippine president from 1965 until 1986, when he was toppled in a People Power revolt. The post claims the man pictured on the right was his associate, Father Jose Antonio Diaz. Screenshot of the Facebook post taken on September 21, 2021 The same collage was shared more recently on Facebook here and here alongside a similar claim. The claim is false. Mass fraud The claim that Marcos accumulated wealth from his law practice before becoming president has no basis. A World Bank report estimates he plundered $5 billion to $10 billion from government coffers. In a July 15, 2003 ruling , the Philippine Supreme Court said although Marcos made it appear that he had an extremely profitable legal practice before he became a President, in reality, this claim was not backed by evidence. There is nothing on record that will show any known Marcos client as he has no known law office, the court said. The joint income tax returns of [Marcos] and [his widow] Imelda cannot, therefore, conceal the skeletons of their kleptocracy. The court ruled at least three times that Marcos accumulated wealth fraudulently during his two-decade presidency. 'Gold payment' To date, only around 244,000 metric tons of gold have been found in the world, according to the US Geological Survey. This contradicts the claim in the posts that Marcos earned 30% commission on 640,000 metric tons of gold in 1949. We are still compiling numbers for 2019 and 2020, but as of 2018, our estimate of 244,000 metric tons of gold as the total amount that has been produced in the world is accurate, Alex Demas, public affairs specialist for the agency, told AFP on September 20, 2021. So no, we do not believe that 640,000 metric tons of gold were moved to the Philippines in 1949, he said. Misleading collage The photo labelled Father Jose Antonio Diaz in the misleading posts is incorrect. Combined reverse image and keyword searches found a nearly identical photo was shared on Facebook on August 8, 2018. The Facebook post states the photo shows Gregorio Aglipay, a Filipino priest who founded the Philippine Independent Church . Aglipay died in 1940 -- some nine years before the purported events described in the false posts. Screenshot comparison of the misused photo (L) and the photo from the 2018 Facebook post (R). The National Historical Commission of the Philippines told AFP the image shows Aglipay. Yes, this is Aglipay. This is just an artist's rendition and not [an actual] photo, a representative for the agency said on September 15. (en)
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