Video claiming PBBM talked to World Bank officials re withdrawing interest from Marcos gold FALSE
CLAIM: President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. talked to World Bank officials about withdrawing the interest from gold reserve deposits supposedly owned by his family.
A video uploaded by BANAT NEWS TV titled “KAKAPASOK LANG NGANGA ang D1LAWAN PRES MARCOS Nag-Withraw ng INTEREST ng MARCOS GOLD sa WORLD BANK!?” on September 25, 2022, claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with World Bank officials to talk about withdrawing the interest from gold reserve deposits allegedly owned by his family.
It also purported that Karen Hudes, a lawyer-turned-whistleblower from the World Bank, confirmed the supposed existence of the Marcos gold.
RATING: FALSE
FACTS: There is no evidence to support that such conversation between Marcos Jr. and World Bank officials occurred.
According to a Philippine News Agency article published on September 23, 2022, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said that Marcos discussed how to align the World Bank’s plans with his priority sectors, which include:
- Agriculture
- Clean energy
- Education
- Post-COVID economic recovery
They also touched on the government’s efforts to establish a virology institute, the state of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, and the target to digitize 50 percent of personal transactions by 2023.
The said meeting happened on the fourth day of Marcos’s stay in New York for the 77th United Nations General Assembly. He met Manuela Ferro, Regional Vice President of the World Bank for East Asia and the Pacific, and Erivaldo Gomes, World Bank Executive Director for the Philippines.
He was joined by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Central Bank Governor Felipe Medalla, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Furthermore, according to a World Bank statement in 2014, Karen Hudes has not been employed by the World Bank since 2007 and “is in no capacity authorized to represent any arm of the World Bank Group”. Her claims are “false and should not be viewed as credible.”
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
As of this writing, the video has gained 1.3 million views, 32,000 likes, and 2606 comments.
SOURCES
ANC 24/7, “LOOK: Bongbong Marcos meets World Bank officials | ANC”, September 22, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqvPiQJ98i4.
Cabristante, Raffy, Marcos discusses agri, economy with World Bank officials in US visit, ABS-CBN News, September 23, 2022. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/23/22/marcos-world-bank-officials-discuss-agri-economy.
Galvez, Daphne, Marcos meets with World Bank executives during US working visit, Inquirer.net, September 22, 2022. https://globalnation.inquirer.net/207161/marcos-jr-meets-with-world-bank-execs-during-us-working-visit.
Gita-Carlos, Ruth Abbey, PBBM, World Bank tackle PH gov’t priorities, Philippine News Agency, September 23, 2022. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1184394.
The World Bank, “Statement on Former Staff Member Karen Hude”, July 8, 2014. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/07/08/statement-former-staff-karen-hudes.
