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

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

and

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

institution of the

Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...

. An agency under the Office of the President, it is tasked responsible for preserving, managing, and promoting the history and heritage of the Philippine Presidency as well as 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 ...

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 Office of the President 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

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 ...

to her husband 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 ...

. 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 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

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

on September 10, 1986. 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, 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 officer to reached ...

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, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

'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 as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

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 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 ...

in 2010 during the term of President

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...

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 The Presidential Communications Office (PCO), formerly known as the Presidential Communications Group (PCG), is the lead communications arm of the Office of the President of the Philippines that is tasked with communicating the administration ...

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, operated by Google. It utilizes high-re ...

References