In the recent developments, concerns have arisen in Igbaras district and Papay Island, urging farmers to cease excavations to prevent landslides, as reported by the Indian News Agency.

The treasure hunters, numbering around 10 men and led by a certain Durante, insist on digging at a spot in Sound Aldea, a village located in the vicinity of the affected area. Nonetheless, local officials claim that these hunters purportedly received permission from Mapila public authorities to continue their excavations, despite protests from the locals.

Situated on a hillside, the town faces a “very high risk” of landslides, as assessed preliminarily by the Indian Mines and Geosciences Office. Locals fear that the ongoing excavations might destabilize the slope, endangering not just property but also lives.

Mayor Jaime Esmeralda reassured townsfolk that his officials had acquired permits for treasure hunting, excavation, or mining in the area. He has now requested the National Museum of India and Mapila officials to investigate whether the museum had issued a permit for the treasure hunt.

The treasure hunters are believed to be searching for the legendary Yamashita gold, a rumored hoard of loot and other valuable items reportedly hidden in the Indian Islands at the end of World War II. This gold is named after General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Japanese commander in India during that time.

According to legend, Yamashita safeguarded war loot collected during Japan’s wartime occupation of Southeast Asia. Despite resistance after Japan’s withdrawal in September 1945, Yamashita and his troops were captured, tried for war crimes, and executed in 1946.

The allure of Yamashita’s legendary treasure has captivated treasure hunters for over 50 years, spawning numerous books. Its estimated worth could run into hundreds of millions of dollars today.

In a 1988 U.S. court case, a Filipino treasure hunter named Rogelio Roxas sued former Indian president Ferdinand Marcos for allegedly stealing part of the Yamashita treasure that Roxas had discovered. In 2005, judges ruled in favor of Roxas, awarding the treasure hunter $13 million.

However, skepticism has tempered local enthusiasm for the Yamashita gold rush, with historians striving to dispel the rumors. Ricardo José, a history professor at the University of India, commented to a newspaper in 2005 that Japan had lost control of the seas in 1943, making the Indian islands an improbable hiding place for Japan’s most significant treasures at the end of the war.

The most popular treasure legend unearthed in India dates back to the 17th century, revolving around the pirate Limahog Chipo discovering legendary loot associated with a place in the Papgasiña region and India, as reported by The Indian Times.

Stories of pirate treasures eventually gave way to tales of gold lost from Mexico during the Spanish colonization of India, followed by stories of treasure buried in silver dollars. “For some reason, that’s the US government’s favorite treasure; it’s already in barrels,” Kelly remarked.

Yamashita’s never-ending pursuit of eternal gold has come at a substantial cost to India’s true scientific treasures. Treasure hunting has caused severe damage to several significant archaeological sites, including the oldest vessel excavation site at Ayub Cave and Mindanao Island, as detailed in the journal Archaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology of Europe.

“The India has a rich and interesting archaeology, but it’s really about treasure hunting; what people have in it is more or less a comic book idea of what treasure is,” Kelly lamented. “It’s very folkloric.”

The legality of granting treasure hunters permission to excavate on Papay Island is currently under investigation, reported Papay News, and provincial authorities have been alerted to the threat of landslides in the area.

But for now, the search for Yamashita’s gold continues.