The Presidential Museum and Library, formerly the Malacañang Museum, is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

and

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

institution of the Philippine government. An agency under the

Office of the President Office of the President can refer to: * Office of the President of Brazil * Office of the President of the People's Republic of China (entity in the Office of the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party) * Office of the President (Republi ...

, it is tasked responsible for preserving, managing, and promoting the history and heritage of the

Philippine Presidency The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

as well as the

Malacañang Palace Malacañang Palace ( fil, Palasyo ng Malakanyang, ; es, Palacio de Malacañán), officially known as Malacañan Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila distric ...

History

The Presidential Museum and Library was preceded by two entities; the Malacañang Library and the Presidential Museum.

Predecessor agencies

Malacañang Library

The Malacañang Library was established in 1946 as the Malacañan Palace Library as part of the Philippine Commonwealth Government. It is a general reference library for use by official and employees of the palace; as well as students and researchers. In January 1950, it was placed under the Office of Public Information; but was made a separate entity at a later date. After this period, two separate distinctions arose to refer to the collections of the Malacañang Palace. "Malacañan Palace Library" came to refer to collections inside the palace which is used by the President themselves while the "Malacañang Library" became the designation for the general circulation library which is available for use by

employees to the general public. The Malacañang Library started with a collection of around 400 volumes. A separate library, known as the Presidential Library, was established in 1973. The Presidential Library, which was hosted at the ground floor of the Maharlika Hall (now the Kalayaan Hall) is a birthday gift by

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Imelda Marcos to her husband President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

. The library also served as a clearing house for President Marcos' documents. The Presidential Library was dissolved in 1997, with its collections absorbed by the Malacañang Library.

Presidential Museum

The Presidential Museum was established during the administration of President

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the ninth president of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth vice president, serving from 19 ...

which was meant to "collect, identify, and display relics" collected during the respective incumbencies of

Philippine presidents The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

. It was also tasked to document the history of the

and for training of the Presidential Guards Battalion as tour guides for tourists visiting the palace. Tours to the palace was halted in the 1970s due to security reasons. The museum was relegated to a repository of artworks under the president's custody. The role of the Presidential Museum was transferred to the Museo ng Malacañang Foundation, a private organization by virtue of Memorandum Order NO. 37 issued by the administration of President

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

on September 10, 1985. Public tours inside the palace was continued as means to showcase the extravagance and opulence of the Marcos administration. The Malacañang Heritage Foundation took over from the Museo ng Malacañang Foundation during the administration of President

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

which reorganized the museum's exhibits and made collections of past presidents as the main feature. Under President

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice preside ...

's tenure, the museum was once again made an artwork repository and public tours were halted once again. The Presidential Museum was once again revived after

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

took office; making the Kalayaan Hall, the building adjacent to the palace proper as the museum's display area and office.

Presidential Museum and Library

The Presidential Museum and the Malacañang Library was merged into one institution in 2004 during President

's term. The combined entity, which became known as the Malacañang Museum, was placed under the supervision of the National Museum of the Philippines in 2010 by Arroyo's successor President Benigno Aquino III "for museological and related policy purposes". The Malacañang Museum was placed under the supervision and control of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office within the same year and was renamed as the Presidential Museum and Library. The PML in 2017 was made accessible online through virtual tours, in collaboration with the Presidential Communications Operations Office and the

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

References