FACT CHECK | Claim that Marcos’ Guinness World Record for government robbery has no basis is false

March 17, 2022 , 03:35 PM

By Mikee Garcia

(March 17, 2022) – A Facebook post on Tuesday lauded the taking down of the former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s Guinness World Record (GWR) for “Greatest Robbery of a Government” from its website, saying it has no basis in the first place.

This claim is false.

CLAIM:

Previously accessible until March 10, GWR stated that the late dictator and his wife Imelda Marcos stole around $5 billion to $10 billion from November 1965 to February 1986. This was first published in the book edition of GWR in 1987.

The GWR, however, recently took it down from its website to seek added verification–not to dispute the record as a historical fact.

We're not disputing this record as a historical fact, nor are we disputing that we monitored the record title and published it in our books and online. We're conducting this review because the record has not been recently researched and verified by independent sources… 1/2

— Guinness World Records (@GWR) March 15, 2022

“GWR takes very seriously, now more so than ever, our responsibility to be a source of reliable, accurate information. Any record which has not been recently researched and verified by independent sources will be re-examined to ensure its accuracy,” said Amber-Georgina Hill, the head of publishing and brand communications of GWR, per the report of Rappler.

In a post, the Facebook page Kaalaman PH Media said this is proof that the said world record has no basis, citing a New York Times article in 1990 when Imelda was cleared of charges that she raided the treasury of the Philippines and invested the money in the United States.

RATING: FALSE

FACTS:

While the former first lady was indeed acquitted in New York, other court records in the Philippines and abroad show that the Marcoses stole from public coffers.

In 2018, the Sandiganbayan convicted Imelda for seven counts of graft and sentenced her to a minimum of 42 years in prison for creating private foundations in Switzerland while she served as Minister of Human Settlements, governor of Metro Manila, and assembly member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa.

She was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for violation of RA 3019, Section 3(h), the corrupt practices of public officers, in relation to Article IX, Section 8 of the 1973 Constitution.

She was allowed by the Sandiganbayan to post a bail of P300,000, citing her age of 89 at that time. Hours later, she was seen at the birthday party of her daughter Sen. Imee Marcos.

In 2014, the Sandiganbayan also forfeited a third set of Imelda’s jewelry collection estimated to be worth close to $150,000 in 1991 and was considered the smallest and least expensive of the lot.

In 1990, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court affirmed that the Marcoses hid $356 million in private accounts and were considered ill-gotten wealth for failing to justify the lawful nature of their acquisition “in the face of undeniable circumstances and the avalanche of documentary evidence against them.”

In 1991, a federal judge in Los Angeles froze all the assets of the Marcoses until the completion of a class-action suit filed in Hawaii on behalf of 10,000 torture victims during Marcos’ iron-fisted military regime.

The human rights plaintiffs won the case and were granted $1.2 billion in exemplary damages and $766 million in compensatory damages. The ruling was reinstated by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2005.

Last September, the Sandiganbayan awarded the turnover of another P1 billion from the Marcos estate, affirming the conviction in Hawaii.

Most recently, the Bureau of Internal Revenue confirmed that the Marcos heirs have unpaid estate taxes worth P203 billion.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government has regained almost P171 billion of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth, with more than P126 billion still unrecovered.

WHY THIS MATTERS:

Widespread disinformation has persisted regarding the stolen wealth of the Marcos family despite various court records and historical documents affirming their crimes.

Marcos Jr., who recently cried “fake news” over their unpaid estate taxes, is running for president in the 2022 elections, and according to political experts, has benefited from his family’s ill-gotten riches.

As of writing, the Facebook post of Kaalaman PH Media has over 53,000 reactions, 6,400 comments, and 54,000 shares. The page has more than 28,000 followers.

News 5 is part of #FactsFirstPH which brings together various sectors that are committed to promoting truth in the public space, and exacting accountability on those who harm it with lies. For those interested to join the initiative, e-mail info@factsfirst.ph. Message News 5’s Facebook page if you want to have any claims fact-checked.

Read our fact-checking policy here.

(PM)

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