FACT CHECK: No such thing as Marcos gold account in Australia

Claim: A gold account owned by the Marcos family in Australia has been unearthed, prompting the Australian prime minister to forge closer ties with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a YouTube video posted on September 8 by a channel that has been fact-checked numerous times by Rappler. The video itself has 34,012 views, 2,400 likes, and 231 comments as of writing.

The video’s title states: “OMG MARCOS ACCOUNT SA AUSTRALIA HETO NA! NAKU PO LIDER NG AUSTRALIA LUMAPIT NA KAY PBBM”

(OMG, Marcos account in Australia, here it is! The leader of Australia has approached PBBM.)

The bottom line: There is no evidence of the Marcoses owning a gold bullion account in Australia. Claims of the Marcos family’s wealth and alleged gold ownership have been debunked numerous times.

What the video shows: The video displays a supposed certificate for a gold bullion account with the West Pacific Banking Corporation-Australia. The document is dated June 19, 1962, and allegedly signed by the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos, former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Andres V. Castillo, and a certain “Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz” as legal counsel.

The certificate contains dubious details. Rappler has fact-checked the mention of Diaz, who was often said to be Jose Rizal in claims about the Marcos gold.

Furthermore, the certificate referenced the Australian bank Westpac, which was still known as Bank of New South Wales at the time of the document’s supposed signing. It was not until 1982 that the bank took on the new name of Westpac Banking Corporation following its merger with the Commercial Bank of Australia.

Apart from the supposed certificate, the video does not show any proof to support this claim. Instead, it showed clips from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to the Philippines to sign the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership with Marcos on September 8.

Closer ties with PH: In a transcript of their opening remarks during the bilateral meeting, neither Marcos nor Albanese mentioned the existence of a Marcos gold account in Australia. Nor did they mention the motive for the Australian leader’s visit being linked to a gold account.

Instead, the visit focused on Australia’s support to the Philippines amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea and Australia’s commitment to boost its assistance in various fields.

Among Australia’s promises were increasing the amount of Australia Awards scholarships available to Philippine students, establishing new reciprocal work and holiday visa agreements, and creating a new five-year program to reduce violent conflict, reintegrate former combatants, and improve community development livelihoods.

The visit marked the first time in 20 years that an Australian head of government visited the Philippines.

Previous fact-checks: Rappler has fact-checked multiple claims of alleged Marcos gold accounts:

– Katarina Ruflo/Rappler.com

Katarina Ruflo is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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