Yamashita gold, gemstones, crystals

When first I ventured into the mountains it was to look for a suitable supply of Rattan which was rapidly dwindling as the lush tropical rain forests of Mindanao fell to the screech and whine of gasoline-fed chainsaws transforming thisdiverse and fertile ecosystem into barren wastelands as marginal farmers burned the undergrowth to plant corn and cassava. The rich topsoil would soon fall to the onslaught of the steadily falling mountain rain which draws tiny trickles together and bond them into rivulets that grow and swell and surge into floods that devastate without feeling, without thought or malice. I was told that in the hinterlands there were still patches of forests which the logging companies had determined were too expensive to operate on. Rattan starts out creeping on the ground and finding a tree begins to climb it. The majestic Philippine mahogany is host to this creeping, climbing wonder which when turned into furniture by the superb craftsmen of Cebu becomes furniture unrivalled in beauty, durability, strength and inventiveness of design.

The stories of Yamashita's gold has always been with us having lived in this fabulous island which is so rich in natural treasures that only the ones who knew intimately about these buried, man-made treasures would pursue their excavation in the dead of night away from curious, prying eyes. Stories often mention President Marcos as having stolen a Golden Buddha which was supposedly unearthed by a treasure hunter named Rogelio Roxas.