[2][3][4] Offshoots of the conspiracy theories include tales that the country's national hero José Rizal survived his execution, that the gold reserves were used to fund the Vatican, or that the gold was instrumental in starting the World Bank.
[5] The gold bars supposedly fell under the custody of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country's central bank.
[citation needed] During the 2022 Philippine presidential election, the myth of the Tallano gold was circulated by social media pages supporting Bongbong Marcos, son of Ferdinand.
In his presidential campaign, the younger Marcos shrugged off such claims, remarking in an interview held on March 15, 2022, with One News, that he has not seen a single gold bar in "his entire life."
The BSP also released a statement that it has no record of it keeping such Tallano gold bars.