The Yamashita school of thought (Part 1)

There are a number of mysteries that continue to baffle and confound the world: Area 51, the moon landing, Kennedy’s assassination. Numerous documentaries and mainstream movies have been produced in an attempt to assuage (and cash in on) the insatiable appetite of countless hardcore conspiracy theorists the world over, myself included. Some very mainstream people are quick to dismiss conspiracy theorists as loons, but don’t you think it wise to always keep an open mind on things?

On the 4th of July, I found myself watching parts one and two of the Nicholas Cage starrer, National Treasure. Treasure maps, booby traps, ciphers and codes, secret passage ways, and anything Indiana Jones-ish are always my kind of thing. Both movies ended with Cage’s team finding treasure of untold proportions. All that gold instantly reminded me of a school of thought that, though not very popular or conventional, is definitely plausible: The Yamashita school of thought.

While the Marcos legacy has been elevated (or reduced) to the realm of myth—with each member of the immediate family inspiring their fair share of urban legends—the whole world seems to have unequivocally and officially embraced the more popular version of the story, and curiously chose to look the other way vis-à-vis other equally compelling paradigms to that era in our country’s history.

I remember several years ago, I was called to the Makati home of my grand aunt, Mrs. Marcos. At her living room, she had an LCD projector, a laptop, and white screen in place. As soon as she came out of her room and we were done exchanging how-are-yous, she then quickly exclaimed: “hijo, Mike, I need your help with the Marcos billions.”

Marcos billions. It was Imelda Marcos herself saying it in front of me. I was speechless. Are these the billions people say they stole from the country? Are billions of dollars the cost of my principles? I’m 20 years old, what does she want help with? Shopping? I can buy an island, or bail out one of those troubled European countries and co-own the place! Hmmm, sounds like a plan, I thought to myself (while a moral tug of war took place in my head).

But she quickly burst my bubble when she began with her very detailed PowerPoint presentation. Apparently, the help she needed was in executing her lofty plans for the country should she successfully recover their family’s frozen assets in the Swiss Banks, rumored to have ballooned (with interest through the decades) to hundreds of billions of dollars (“so many zeroes, it makes me cross-eyed”). Each time she clicked the button, everything became clearer to me. The mega ambitious plan comprehensively outlined in her presentation involves, among other things, developments in infrastructure, electrification, nationwide reforestation, and a mind-boggling housing program set to reduce the number of homeless Filipinos to none.

When I had more time to think things through, and while I hope to see that plan realized someday, one pressing question lingered. Where did all that money come from? Okay, people say they stole all that from government, but which one, which government? Surely the Philippine government didn’t have that much money or that much gold, not then, not now.

(To be continued next Saturday…)

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Tonight on The Bottomline with Boy Abunda: It’s all about protecting our national treasures in this evening’s episode of the 2011 Asian Television Awards ‘Best Talk Show’ as Ivan Henares, Vice President of the Heritage Conservation Society, talks about an entire gamut of issues faced by conservationists—from threats of development, apathy and ignorance of some Filipinos toward our culture and heritage, to existing laws that are supposed to protect our tangible patrimony.

Watch The Bottomline later after Banana Split on ABS-CBN Channel 2. Encore cable telecast tomorrow, Sunday, 1 pm, on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).

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