FACT CHECK: No Marcos gold bars deposited in World Bank

Claim: Former president Ferdinand E. Marcos deposited 156 tons of gold bars in the World Bank.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video was posted on January 31 by a channel with 73,700 subscribers. As of writing, it has gained 82,365 views, 2,500 likes, and 507 comments.

The video’s narrator claimed that Marcos was the only Philippine president to have deposited the gold bars in the World Bank as an “inheritance” to the Filipino people.

The video also mentioned several Marcos gold myths that have already been disproven.

The bottom line: Marcos, or any other individual person, could not have deposited gold in the World Bank because it is not a regular commercial bank. 

The World Bank is a “vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world,” according to its website. It adds: “We are not a bank in the ordinary sense but a unique partnership to reduce poverty and support development.” 

Both Rappler and Vera Files have debunked claims of supposed Marcos gold reserves in the World Bank.

Gold reserves under Marcos: The Philippines’ gold reserves declined under Marcos’ administration, with news articles reporting on stolen wealth and missing gold from the national treasury.

According to a March 16, 1986 article from The New York Times, the country’s gold reserves declined by more than 40% in 1973 during the first full year of Martial Law. The article added that there were reports from US intelligence agents on the “diversion of precious metals by Mr. Marcos and his associates.”

Citing an unnamed American official, the report said that the official Philippine gold reserves decreased from 1,857,000 troy ounces in 1972 to 1,057,000 ounces in 1973.

Another article from the Los Angeles Times estimated that the late dictator and his associates siphoned seven tons of gold worth more than $75 million from the national treasury during the seven years that his government took direct control of the gold industry in the Philippines.

Philippines’ gold reserves: Data from the World Gold Council from 2000 to 2023 shows that over the past two decades, the country’s gold reserves were at their highest in 2002 with 271.49 metric tons, followed by a dip in 2005 and 2007, where they were at 131.67 tons. 

From 2012 to 2019, gold reserves averaged 195.75 tons. In 2023, the Philippines had 164.77 tons in gold reserves.

Rappler has already published several fact checks on the rumored Marcos gold:

• FACT CHECK: Marcos did not withdraw interest from gold deposits in the World Bank
• FACT CHECK: Marcos doesn’t have ‘over a million metric tons’ of gold in banks worldwide
• FACT CHECK: Video doesn’t show evidence of Marcos revealing family’s gold account

– Kyle Marcelino/Rappler.com

Kyle Marcelino 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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