The Claim: Guinness World Records’ recent removal of the entry of the Marcoses committing “the Greatest Robbery of a Government” absolves the dynasty of their crimes.
Rating: FALSE
The facts: Kaalaman PH Media, a Facebook page, stated in its post that the allegations against the Marcoses having committed the Greatest Robbery of a Government are baseless and untrue. This, after Guinness World Records’ entry was taken down. However, several other documents proved that the Marcoses were indeed convicted for graft and corruption.
Why we fact checked this: Every website owner has the right to add, modify, or remove content as they deem necessary, especially to ensure the accuracy of their published material. In this case, however, this action by GWR does not override convictions and court rulings about the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth.
Kaalaman PH Media cited a New York Times article to justify the removal of GWR page. It says that the US Court has cleared Imelda Marcos, the wife of the former dictator, of racketeering and fraud charges. [https://www.facebook.com/KaalamanPHMedia/posts/374725141325787]
Reading through the lengthy New York Times print, the article revealed that the US Courts acquitted Mrs. Marcos because they have no jurisdiction over the case as those crimes were committed in a foreign country. Moreover, Carmen N. Pedrosa, a spokesperson for the Aquino government, said, “What this trial has established before the world is what the Marcos regime was all about – unbridled corruption and a total abuse of power.” Pedrosa also added, “She [Imelda Marcos] might have won the battle, but we won the war.” [https://www.nytimes.com/…/marcos-verdict-marcos-cleared…]
In the Philippines, Imelda Marcos was convicted of seven counts of graft due to her “financial interests and participation in the management of private foundations in Switzerland.” This crime happened when Mrs. Marcos served as a Cabinet official during her late husband’s term. Aside from the penalty of imprisonment of up to 11 years, she was also permanently banned from holding any public office. Several cases are also being heard. [https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1053402]
In an email, Amber Georgina-Gill, the head of publishing and brand communications of GWR, told Rappler, “GWR takes very seriously, now more so than ever, our responsibility to be a source of reliable, accurate information.” [https://www.rappler.com/…/guinness-record-ferdinand…/] However, GWR has not dismissed Marcos’ corruption of Philippine coffers as untrue. Also, Guinness hinted that the removal of the entry was only temporary.
The fact that the Marcoses had acquired ill-gotten wealth in massive proportions still stands in Philippine history.
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