Yamishita's gold in the Philippines is an implausible legend anyway. The US started their island hoping campaign several years earlier before taking back the Philippines, first taking islands such as Guam, Solomons, Guadacanal, the Marianas Islands, the Gilbert Islands, Peleliu Islands, so on and so forth, giving the Japanese years of advance warning that we were coming and couldn't be stopped. So to say they were "caught by surprise" at our rapid advance and had to thus bury the gold is complete myth.
Also, at that point in the war, Japan was almost bankrupt, they weren't holing up vast deposits of plundered gold on a foreign island that is
1750 miles away from Japan, loot that was desperately needed for the war effort.
Here's a good read on why legends of treasure persist in the Philippines:
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/142197-general-yamashita-treasure/