BAGUIO CITY – A treasure hunter is being given 60 days by the city council to locate the famed Yamashita treasure here.
Eliseo Cabusao appeared before the city council bringing along with him the Treasure Hunting and Disposition of
Recovered Treasures Permit from the National Museum which turned out to be the council’s basis for the approval.
Councilor Edgar Avila said the activity will be secured and monitored to assure the safety of those involved and to make sure that there will be no violation in the agreement and permit, especially damage to the environment.
“There’s no basis not to allow it because he already has a permit from the national government through the national museum. He is given only 60 days to do it and if this is true, the city government will surely benefit from the 35% share,” said Avila.
The controversial cache is reportedly buried within the Baguio Convention Center area and that Cabusao will be allowed to excavate the pinpointed areas in an effort to find the treasure.
Based on the agreement entered into by Cabusao, the hunter will be given 30% share of the find while the national and local governments will be given 35% each.
“If there is none, then we will quickly cover the hole or holes with the same soil our drilling would have taken out,” said Cabusao.
Named after Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the much-argued treasure is said to be a collection of alleged war loot composed of gold and precious properties said to be stolen on a massive scale by Japanese forces during World War II.
Most of them were reportedly buried in many parts of the Philippines. (Zaldy Comanda)