FACT-CHECK: YouTube channel falsely claims $987B in Marcos deposits brought to PH by European leader

CLAIM: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen brought $987 billion in Marcos deposits during her visit to the Philippines

RATING: FALSE

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YouTube channel “PweDelie TV” made the false and outlandish claim that the head of the European Commission brought to the Philippines on July 31 $987 billion previously deposited in Brussels, Belgium.

PweDelie TV spliced together videos of the recent meeting of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and a 2009 BBC documentary where the president’s mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, shows a BBC journalist documents on the supposed deposits.

These questionable documents are often used by Marcos defenders to claim that the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was rich and did not need to steal money from government coffers during his strongman rule from 1972 to 1986. The Marcoses were said to have accumulated some $10 billion during the late dictator’s martial rule.

The hastily made video apparently wanted viewers to make the connection between the European leader’s visit and Imelda Marcos’s old BBC interview – two totally unrelated events.

Von der Leyen, the former German defense minister, heads the European Commission, which is incidentally headquartered in Brussels.

Her two-day visit to Manila at President Marcos’s invitation was meant to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the European bloc.

Marcos and von der Leyen discussed during their bilateral meeting economic and trade ties, the Bangsamoro peace process, and the recognition of Filipino seafarers, among others. 

The video has been viewed more than 600,000 times and commented on more than 1,400 times.

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