The Kalayaan Hall (Filipino: ''Bulwagang Kalayaan'') is a government building within the

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 ...

complex in

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 ...

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 ...

. It houses the Presidential Museum and Library.

History

As the Executive Building

The Kalayaan Hall was built as the Executive Building by

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Francis Burton Harrison Francis Burton Harrison (December 18, 1873 – November 21, 1957) was an American-Filipino Politics of the United States, statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and was appointed Governor-General of the Philippines ...

in from 1920 to 1921 during the

American colonial era The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen Colonies, Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 17 ...

. It was first fully used by Harrison's successor

Leonard Wood Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, List of colonial governors of Cuba, Military Governor of Cuba, ...

. Philippine President

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...

took office in the building in 1935. In 1937, the building's second floor was renovated to accommodate offices of the President, Vice President, the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. The building would serve as the principal official building of the

by the succeeding presidents after Quezon until

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh President of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash, aircraft disast ...

. President

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...

and

Carlos P. Garcia Carlos Polestico Garcia (; November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971), often referred to by his initials CPG, was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the ...

took their oath as president in the Executive Building; on April 17, 1948, and March 18, 1957, respectively. Presidents Garcia and

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

rarely used the Executive Building for official functions; instead using the Malacañang Palace proper.

As the Maharlika Hall

In the 1970s, during the administration of President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

and under the initiative of his wife and First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...

, the central portion of the second floor of the building was demolished to make way for a large room; the room and the building itself was then renamed as Maharlika Hall. It was also in the building's largest room where Marcos formally proclaimed Martial Law over the Philippines on September 23, 1972. In 1986 Marcos was last seen in the building's balcony after his inauguration. Before he and his family were forced to flee from the palace.

As the Kalayaan Hall

After the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

of 1986 which deposed Marcos and installed

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

as president, the Maharlika Hall was renamed as the Kalayaan Hall by Aquino's administration as commemoration of the revolution. The Kalayaan Hall was then used as Office of the Press Secretary until 2002 when it was made the main gallery of the Presidential Museum and Library.

Architecture and design

The Kalayaan Hall is described as an example of Renaissance–Revivalist architecture. The building was constructed by the Bureau of Public Works with involvement of American consulting architect Ralph Harrington , and supervision of Filipino architect Tomas Mapúa. The building's pre-cast ornamentation and carved wooden interiors were made by sculptors Isabelo Tampinco and Graciano Nepomuceno. The 1930s expansion was overseen by

Juan Arellano Juan Marcos Arellano y de Guzmán (April 25, 1888 – December 5, 1960), or Juan M. Arellano, was a Filipino architect, best known for Manila's Metropolitan Theater (1935), Legislative Building (1926; now houses the National Museum of Fine ...

for the exterior and Vidal Tampinco, the interior.

References

{{reflist National Historical Landmarks of the Philippines Government buildings completed in 1921 Malacañang Palace Buildings and structures in Manila