FACT CHECK: Marcos gold account not the reason for Anwar’s visit to PH

Claim: The official state visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to the Philippines was prompted by Marcos’ huge secret gold account.

Rating: False

Why we fact-checked this: The false claim on YouTube was posted by PweDelie TV with the title: “GRABE MARCOS ACCOUNT SIKRETONG DAHILAN KAYA NAKIPAGKASUNDO ANG BANSANG MALAYSIA KAY PANGULONG BBM?” The video has 96,000 views and 177 comments as of writing.

What the video shows: The video shows a certificate of bank insurance guarantee, dated January 12, 1983, that supposedly came from Banco De Oro Unibank. The certificate confirms that Banco De Oro insured a deposit of cash and gold bullion with its accredited insurance company amounting to $943 trillion.

The image certificate also contains instructions prescribing the proper distribution of the budgetary scheme where it indicates that 70% of the value will be for government projects. The alleged bank insurance guarantee certificate bears the signatures of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos and Roberto R. Lapid, then-chief executive officer of Banco de Oro.

However, apart from the alleged receipt, the video shows nothing more to prove the claim. Instead, it goes on to show the video of the two leaders’ joint press conference at Malacañang Palace.

No evidence: Numerous claims have been made regarding the supposed possession of a vast gold reserve by the Marcos family. Nevertheless, there is a lack of legal documentation that verifies the existence of such a claim.

The Malaysian Prime Minister had a one-day state visit to the Philippines and met President Marcos Jr. to discuss bilateral cooperation in security and digital economy between Manila and Kuala Lumpur.

Ibrahim also delivered a lecture at the University of the Philippines on “30 Years After Asian Renaissance: Strategic Takeaways for ASEAN” where he was conferred an honorary doctorate degree in Law. – Jezreel Ines/Rappler