National Museum of the Philippines – Cebu (; ) is a museum in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

under the

National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines () is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines, including Ethnography, ethnographic, Anthropology, anthropological, Archaeology, archaeological, an ...

system. Hosted at the Aduana (Customs) building, the museum building was known as Malacañang sa Sugbo (; ) when it served as the official residence of the

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

."Malacanang of the South (Malacanang sa Sugbo)"
. Pueblo Philippines. Retrieved on 2012-12-20. It was named after

Malacañang Palace Malacañang Palace (, ), officially known as Malacañán Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila district of San Miguel, Manila, San Miguel, along Jose Laurel S ...

, the official residence of the president in the capital city of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

History

Construction

Previously known as the ''Aduana'' (Customs) building, it was originally built in 1910 to house the

Bureau of Customs The Bureau of Customs (BoC or BOC; ) is a Philippine government agency that is responsible for the collecting of customs, customs duties, excise duties, and other indirect taxes in the Philippines. It is part of the Department of Finance (Philip ...

(BOC) office in the Port of Cebu City. It was designed by William E. Parsons, who was assigned as the architect of the Philippine government from 1905 to 1914. Parsons was chosen by Daniel H. Burnham to execute the plans for the city of

and

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. Parsons made his own plan for the development of the city of Cebu, and he Customs Office was the first building constructed according to his plan.

Malacañang sa Sugbo

The building would be used as the Customs office until 2004, where it was converted into ''Malacañang sa Sugbo''. The ''Aduana'' was restored by the national government at a cost of

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

700,000. The Bureau of Customs was forced out of the building, and moved to a rented building from the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA).Palaubsanon, Mitchelle L. (2012-07-31)
"Win-win solution" eyed for Malacañang sa Sugbo "
PhilStar Freeman. Retrieved on 2012-12-20. In July 2012, the Bureau of Customs attempted to repossess and return to the ''Aduana'' after the building they were housed in suffered damages from an earthquake on February 6, 2012. Huge cracks on the ceiling, floor, and interior walls were noticed in the building after the temblor. The ''Aduana'', which is still owned by the BOC, was not being used and is seen by the Customs office as a "

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...

Ownership issues

In 2013, the ''Malacañang sa Sugbo'' building was cordoned off and declared off-limits after structural engineers of the Cebu City's Department of Engineering and Public Works determined it had been rendered unsafe by the October 15 earthquake. The building was reopened on July 19, 2016, for inspection and ongoing assessment to identify the repairs it needed and to determine how much would be spent. Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (PAV) Michael Dino held office in the room at the left wing of the building as the PAV office.

Heritage recognition and conversion to a museum

In 2019, the building was declared a National Cultural Treasure. Then, the building was converted as the National Museum Central Visayas. The museum was inaugurated on July 28, 2023, and was opened to the public on August 1, 2023.

Gallery

File:Cebu Malacanan.JPG, The facade of the building from the coast. File:Malacañan sa Sugbu - View from Plaza Independencia.jpg, Malacañan sa Sugbu in 2018. File:Malacañan sa Sugbu under renovation in 2022.jpg, Malacañan sa Sugbu under renovation in 2022

References

External links

Malacañan sa Sugbo photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum Of The Philippines, Cebu National Museum of the Philippines Buildings and structures in Cebu City Landmarks in the Philippines Official residences in the Philippines Palaces in the Philippines 2023 establishments in the Philippines