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Excerpt from The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy:

Probably the single biggest piece of evidence to support the existence of the rumored Yamashita’s treasure was a lawsuit filed in a Hawaiian state court in 1988. It involved Filipino treasure hunter Rogelio Roxas and the former Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos. The lawsuit was for theft and human rights abuses, and named Marcos and his wife Imelda as the perpetrators.

In 1961, Roxas claimed to have met a former member of the Japanese Imperial Army who showed him maps revealing the location of a major treasure site. He also said he met another Japanese man who worked as General Yamashita’s interpreter and had seen a chamber full of bullion, including numerous gold Buddha statues.

Armed with maps and eyewitness accounts, Roxas began searching in earnest for the site.

Ten years later, in 1971, Roxas claimed to have discovered the underground chamber on the outskirts of Baguio City. Inside it, he found a 3-foot tall gold Buddha, which weighed approximately 1000 kilograms, and rows of staked boxes full of bullion. Roxas reportedly took one box, which was said to contain 24 solid gold bars from the chamber, as well as the gold Buddha and hid them in his home.

Roxas also claimed that President Marcos soon heard about his discovery and ordered him to be arrested and beaten. The booty he’d recovered, along with all the remaining contents of the underground chamber, was confiscated for Marcos� personal possession.

After Roxas protested vocally and spoke about his ill treatment to journalists, Marcos incarcerated Roxas for over a year. Upon release, Roxas laid low until Marcos was stripped of his presidency and kicked out of the Philippines in 1986. Then, in 1988, Roxas filed the lawsuit against Marcos and his wife seeking damages for the human rights abuses and the theft of his Yamashita discovery.

Befitting an international intrigue novel, Roxas died on the eve of trial and Ferdinand Marcos, who by then was living in exile in Hawaii, also passed away the following year.

Some researchers believe Roxas was murdered. This theory is supported by the research of Yamashita experts Sterling Seagrave and Peggy Seagrave in their book Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold, in which they state that Roxas did indeed discover a “solid gold Buddha looted from Burma� and, “after President Marcos stole it�, that “Roxas was tortured and murdered to silence him�.

However, in a twist, Roxas was not completely silenced. Shortly before dying he gave a disposition testimony that was used as evidence in the ensuing court case.

In 1996, the Roxas estate received what was at that point the largest judgment ever awarded � US$22 billion. The inclusion of added interest boosted that amount to US$40.5 billion. Then, in 1998, the Hawaii Supreme Court reversed the damages award even though it held there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Roxas had indeed found the treasure and that Marcos had seized it.

However, the court also held that the award for the chamber-full of gold was too speculative as there was no evidence of either quantity or quality. Instead, the court ordered a new hearing based solely on what Roxas had removed from the underground chamber, which were just the single golden Buddha and the box of gold bars.

After more protracted legal proceedings, the Roxas estate finally obtained a closing judgment against the now widowed Imelda Marcos. Roxas� estate obtained a US$6 million judgment regarding the claim for human rights abuse.

That lawsuit ultimately concluded that Roxas had found the treasures he said he had and that it was likely part of the legendary Yamashita’s Gold. The complex case was concluded by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal summarizing the allegations leading to Roxas� final judgment as follows: “The Yamashita Treasure was found by Roxas and stolen from Roxas by Marcos� men.�

This was astonishing considering that neither the US Government nor any other government had ever acknowledged the existence of the Yamashita treasure hoard.

Ferdinand Marcos



Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism



The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos

Of the above books, the last one by Primitivo Mijares is what I deem the best; because it was written by Marcos' press secretary. An important insider who later defected.

As I recall, he suggests that Marcos got just any convenient statue he could lay his hands on; and then 'claimed' it was a piece from the legendary treasure-hoard. It was a ruse he relied on to disguise how he had looted his own country year after year (via the graft & corruption made possible during his time in office) and thus it helped 'explain' how he had been able to send such a vast fortune overseas. In other words, 'he found' his entire fortune, and had never taken a bribe or a kickback in his career. 'Tibo' says that Marcos never even visited the area of the caves/cliffs; but loudly claimed he did in order to facilitate the lie.
Oh well. Just contributing what I've come across.

Another book title to add to the above, is this:

Cronies & Enemies: The Current Philippine Scene
Belinda A. Aquino
(possible relative of the Aguino family, political opponents of Marcos, whom he later decimated)
John E. Dougherty
Jovito R. Salonga
Philippine Studies Occasional Paper No. 5

Philippine Studies Program
Center for Asian & Pacific Studies
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

Feliks wrote: "'Tibo' says that Marcos never even visited the area of the caves/cliffs; but loudly claimed he did in order to facilitate the lie...."

two corrections on that:
1. Marcos came from the region most of Yamashita's Gold rumored to be hidden and where the Japanese forces were in the largest numbers: Illocos Norte in La Union in the Philippines.
2. Marcos himself never needed to visit the caves personally himself - he had his generals, police force, special task forces, intelligence agents, etc, etc, to do that for him.

Rogelio Roxas lawsuit[edit]
In March 1988, a Filipino treasure hunter named Rogelio Roxas filed a lawsuit in the state of Hawaii against the former president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda Marcos for theft and human rights abuses. Roxas claimed that in Baguio City in 1961 he met the son of a former member of the Japanese army who mapped for him the location of the legendary Yamashita Treasure. Roxas claimed a second man, who served as Yamashita's interpreter during the Second World War, told him of visiting an underground chamber there where stores of gold and silver were kept, and who told of a golden buddha kept at a convent located near the underground chambers. Roxas claimed that within the next few years he formed a group to search for the treasure, and obtained a permit for the purpose from a relative of Ferdinand, Judge Pio Marcos. In 1971, Roxas claimed, he and his group uncovered an enclosed chamber on state lands near Baguio City where he found bayonets, samurai swords, radios, and skeletal remains dressed in a Japanese military uniform. Also found in the chamber, Roxas claimed, were a 3-foot-high (0.91 m) golden-colored Buddha and numerous stacked crates which filled an area approximately 6 feet x 6 feet x 35 feet. He claimed he opened just one of the boxes, and found it packed with gold bullion. He said he took from the chamber the golden Buddha, which he estimated to weigh 1,000 kilograms, and one box with twenty-four gold bars, and hid them in his home. He claimed he resealed the chamber for safekeeping until he could arrange the removal of the remaining boxes, which he suspected were also filled with gold bars. Roxas said he sold seven of the gold bars from the opened box, and sought potential buyers for the golden Buddha. Two individuals representing prospective buyers examined and tested the metal in the Buddha, Roxas said, and reported it was made of solid, 20-carat gold. It was soon after this, Roxas claimed, that President Ferdinand Marcos learned of Roxas' discovery and ordered him arrested, beaten, and the Buddha and remaining gold seized. Roxas alleged that in retaliation to his vocal campaign to reclaim the Buddha and the remainder of the treasure taken from him, Ferdinand continued to have Roxas threatened, beaten and eventually incarcerated for over a year.[4]
Following his release, Roxas put his claims against Marcos on hold until Ferdinand lost the presidency in 1986. But in 1988, Roxas and the Golden Budha Corporation, which now held the ownership rights to the treasure Roxas claims was stolen from him, filed suit against Ferdinand and wife Imelda in a Hawaiian state court seeking damages for the theft and the surrounding human rights abuses committed against Roxas. Roxas died on the eve of trial,[11] but prior to his death he gave the deposition testimony that would be later used in evidence. In 1996, the Roxas estate and the Golden Budha Corporation received what was then-largest judgment ever awarded in history, $22 billion which with interest increased to $40.5 billion.[12] In 1998, The Hawaii Supreme Court held that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Roxas found the treasure and that Marcos converted it. However, the court reversed the damage award, holding that the $22 billion award of damages for the chamber full of gold was too speculative, as there was no evidence of quantity or quality, and ordered a new hearing on the value of the golden Buddha and 17 bars of gold only.[4] After several more years of legal proceedings, the Golden Budha Corporation obtained a final judgment against Imelda Marcos to the extent of her interest in the Marcos estate in the principal amount of $13,275,848.37 and Roxas� estate obtained a $6 million judgment on the claim for human right abuse.[13]
This lawsuit ultimately concluded that Roxas found a treasure, and although the Hawaiian state court was not required to determine whether this particular treasure was the legendary Yamashita’s gold, the testimony relied upon by the court in reaching its conclusion pointed in that direction. Roxas was allegedly following a map from the son of a Japanese soldier; Roxas allegedly relied on tips provided from Yamashita’s interpreter; and Roxas allegedly found samurai swords and the skeletons of dead Japanese soldiers in the treasure chamber. All this led the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to summarize the allegations leading to Roxas� final judgment as follows: "The Yamashita Treasure was found by Roxas and stolen from Roxas by Marcos' men." [14]

All this led the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to summarize the allegations leading to Roxas� final judgment as follows: "The Yamashita Treasure was found by Roxas and stolen from Roxas by Marcos' men."

The Case Of General Yamashita



Asian Loot: Unearthing the Secrets of Marcos, Yamashita and the Gold

The Marcos Family’s Undocumented TRILLION$ (Riches in the Philippines)