The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of
national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and visual arts collections. From 1973 until 2021, the National Museum served as the regulatory and enforcement agency of the
government of the Philippines in the restoring and safeguarding of significant cultural properties, sites, and reservations throughout the Philippines. The mandate has since been transferred to the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, ceb, Nasodnong Komisyon alang sa Budaya ug mga Arte) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. ...
.
The National Museum operates the
National Museum of Fine Arts,
National Museum of Anthropology, and the
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...
, all located in the
National Museum Complex in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
. The institution also operates branch museums throughout the country.
The National Museum also established and operates regional museums across the Philippines: National Museum Eastern-Northern Mindanao (
Butuan City
Butuan (pronounced ), officially the City of Butuan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Butuan; Butuanon: ''Dakbayan hong Butuan''; fil, Lungsod ng Butuan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Caraga, Philippines. It is the ''de facto'' c ...
), National Museum Central Visayas Regional Museum (
Cebu City
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Ac ...
), National Museum Western Visayas (
Iloilo City
Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of ...
), National Museum Western-Southern Mindanao (
Zamboanga City
Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (Chavacano and es, Ciudad de Zamboanga, Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Sambuangan'', fil, Lungsod ng Zamboanga, ceb, Dakbayan sa Zamboanga), is a city in the Zamboanga Peninsula region of the Philipp ...
), and National Museum Ilocos (
Vigan City), to name a few.
History
Spanish era
The first predecessor to the current National Museum of the Philippines organization was the Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas which was established by royal decree by the
Spanish colonial government in the Philippines on August 12, 1887. Its first museum-library opened at the
Casa de la Moneda along Cabildo Street on October 24, 1891. It later moved to a building along Gunao Street in
Quiapo before it became defunct sometime around the onset of the
American occupation of the Philippines in 1900.
American era
The American-supervised
Philippine Commission
The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines.
The first Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Preside ...
established the Insular Museum of Ethnology, Natural History, and Commerce under the
Department of Public Instruction on October 29, 1901 through Act No. 284 to replace the museum-library. The Insular Museum was founded to complement the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes which was later renamed as the Bureau of Ethnological Survey. After the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...
of 1904, the Insular Museum was renamed as the Philippine Museum. The Bureau of Ethnological Survey was abolished as a separate bureau and was reorganized as the Division of Ethnology under the Bureau of Education in 1905. It was subsequently moved to the Bureau of Science in 1906.
In 1916, the organization of the Philippine Museum underwent another overhaul. Through Act No. 2572, the Philippine Library and Museum was created through the merger of the Division of Ethnology and the Fine Arts Division of the Philippine Museum. The Philippine Museum's Natural History Division was retained under the Bureau of Science.
The National Museum of the Philippine Islands would be established on December 7, 1928 through Act No. 3477. It was placed under the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It was abolished in 1933 by Act No. 4007. The Division of Fine Arts was placed under the Philippine Library and Museum (now
National Library of the Philippines) while the Division of Ethnology was placed under the Bureau of Science. The National Museum Division was created from the merger of the Division of Ethnology and the Natural History Division. The National Museum Division was renamed as the National History Museum Division with the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce named as its parent agency via Commonwealth Act No. 453 in 1939. The Division was later merged to the National Library's Division of Fine Arts to become the National Museum under the Office of the Executive Secretary.
World War II
The
Japanese occupation of the Philippines
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Japones sa Filipinas''; ja, 日本のフィリピン占領, Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of t ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
brought the Natural History Museum Division and the National Library's Fine Arts Division back under a single organization, but the museum lost a large part of its collection during the
Liberation of Manila of 1945 when the
Old Legislative Building and the Bureau of Science Building was destroyed. The organization which resulted from the divisions' merger was named as the National Museum and was placed under the Office of the Executive Secretary.
The Legislative Building would be restored.
Contemporary era
The museum's role in cultural growth was recognized as contributing to government's desire for national development. In 1966, 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 ...
signed Republic Act No. 4846 or the Cultural Properties and Protection Act. The law designated the museum as the lead agency in the protection and preservation of the nation's cultural properties through the conduct of census, study, and declaration of such properties and the monitoring and regulation of archaeological exploration, excavation, or diggings in historical or archaeological sites. With its new powers, it was able to strengthen its cultural mandate by declaring properties, structures, and sites of historical and cultural value to the nation. The educational mandate was strengthened because it was able to inform the public of the research it conducted and through the acquisition and exhibition of archaeological finds.
In 2019, the powers of the National Museum were further expanded through Republic Act No. 11333 which was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. Under the law the museum body's official name was lengthened to National Museum of the Philippines from just being National Museum. It was also classified as a government trust attached to the government for only budgetary reasons preserving a degree of independence and autonomy. It is also mandated to establish regional museums in each of the country's administrative regions.
Museums
Central museums
The National Museum Complex consist of the central museums of the National Museum of the Philippines. These are the
National Museum of Fine Arts, the
National Museum of Anthropology, and the
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...
. The
National Planetarium was also part of this complex.
Satellite museums
The National Museum has also established numerous satellite museums outside Metro Manila.
Regional museums
Area museums
Site museums
Former facilities
Museums
The National Museum had a satellite museum in
Bolinao,
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its cap ...
. It was an
archeological museum
An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological
Types
Many archaeology museum are in the open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum. Others display artifacts inside buildings, such as Na ...
featuring historic objects retrieved from the different parts of the province. It first opened in 1970.
National Planetarium
The Planetarium was planned in 1970's by former National Museum Director Godofredo Alcasid Sr. with the assistance of Mr. Maximo P. Sacro Jr. of the
Philippine Weather bureau and one of the founders of the Philippine Astronomical Society.
The building started on construction on 1974 and completed 9 months after. It was formally inaugurated on October 8, 1975. The Presidential Decree No. 804-A, issued on September 30, 1975, affirmed the Planetarium's status. The Planetarium is located between the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden at the
Rizal Park
Rizal Park ( fil, Liwasang Rizal, es, link=no, Parque Rizal), also known as Luneta Park or simply Luneta, is a historic urban park located in Ermita, Manila. It is considered one of the largest urban parks in the Philippines, covering an are ...
.
Seminars and lectures
The National Museum offers numerous lectures, workshops, and seminars annually. However, most of these events happen at the museums within Metro Manila. More than 80% of provinces in the country have yet to possess a museum under the authority of the National Museum. A partial reason for this lacking is the non-existence of a Department of Culture. In late 2016, a bill establishing the Department of Culture and the Arts and another bill strengthening the National Museum, including its regional museums, were filed by Senator
Loren Legarda in the Senate. Both bills were formally introduced in early 2017.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
Government agencies under the Office of the President of the Philippines
Government agencies established in 1901
1901 establishments in the Philippines
Department of Education (Philippines)
Museum organizations