Full Account of Visit to Malacanang Museum

Glenn M, a former colleague at IBM , posted in facebook pictures of his 2009 visit to Malacanang Museum. It's interesting to know that while already based in New Zealand , he returned to Manila for a short stay and was able to visit malacanang museum. Since i am looking for nearby places to see and to hone my photography skill, I must include a tour of malacanang museum in my bucket list for 2010. I wanted to have my family with me on this tour and since the museum is opened only on weekdays, i have to schedule the visit when all of us are free. I am working with a BPO and have to time my leaves on days when there is not much payroll activities.

The visit to the museum is strictly by appointment only ;you have to send in your request 7 working days before the day of your intended visit. So as early as March, i browsed my payroll calendar. I am handling an australian account and saw that Easter Monday is a public holiday in australia. This is a perfect day --schoolyear would have ended by this time and i could ask my daughter to file an advance notice of leave for April 5, Easter Monday, which happens to be her birthday also. So I emailed my request on March 15 and the museum staff was kind and accomodating to calendar our visit on April 5 at 930am.

It will be my first time to drive around the Mendiola and Arlegui streets. I only take the public ride whenever i go to these areas. It has been long time since I last saw mendiola and dont know what to expect. When the day of our visit finally arrived, we left the house early so if ever i get lost, i still have enough time for some quick turns. We took Roxas Blvd then to Finance Street straight to Ayala bridge. We reached Mendiola and it was closed to traffic--permanently that is maybe to prevent rallies. So i drove pass Arellano University ( not taking the flyover ) and turned right to a street which lead us to a fork--one with a checkpoint and the other road used by jeepneys. I could have gone straight to the checkpoint but my daughter said to take the other road. We ended up in Mendiola (or part of Mendiola which was converted to public parking) near College of Holy Spirit, La Consolacion and CEU. Had we taken the other road, that would lead us to Malacanang grounds. But anyway, we've arrived. Since it's still early , we had breakfast in the nearby mcdonalds and waited.

By 915am we left mcdonalds and walked towards the first entrance guarded by uniformed men. There was a banner greeting GMA ;it's also her birthday. (but she's celebrating in her hometown, Lubao). After the security cleared us, we strolled about 100meters to Kalayaan gate where the waiting room is located. We were advised by the Presidential Security Group that picture taking is not allowed but i pleaded nicely and calmly. The PSG was kind and allowed us to bring camera but only 1. I showed them my dslr and they placed a tag on it. My daughter surrendered her camera. There were only two groups scheduled for that day, one group of youth from Iloilo and then us. It was nice coz it would not be crowded. Btw,entrance fee is only P50 and P30 for students, elderly etc.

Our assigned tour guide met us and signalled us to wait for the first group to finish with the simple orientation. He introduced himself ; his name is Rommel . He started to narrate the museum's history as we entered the Kalayaan Hall reception room. The Kalayaan Hall (Freedom Hall) is the old executive building built in 1920.

The ground floor houses several galleries but we walked into the Old Reception Room (Spanish Era),

Old Executive Secretary's (Era of Reform) Galleries. There were historical and amazing and priceless relics, memorabilia, artworks and photos displayed in these rooms.

The Old State Rooms and Main Hall are located on the second floor. The Old President's Office is called Quezon Room;

Old Cabinet Room is called Roxas Room and the Old Council State Room,Quirino Room. According to Rommel, the Main Hall was the ballroom of the then First Lady Imelda Marcos when there was a party.

The Main Hall contains now the Gallery of the Presidents, lots of wooden bookshelves etc. There is also a display of selected state and officials gifts to President Arroyo. There was an interesting jewelry box made of pure gold which was the give away during the wedding of the daughter of the Sultan of Brunei . Wow!

Rommel also opened to us the door leading to the balcony where Pres. Marcos normally appeared before the crowd. It sent me chilly feeling knowing that i am standing on the spot where Pres Marcos and Imelda once stood. Unfortunately, i was not able take a picture of the historic balcony. He also showed us the Pasig river from another balcony. Across the river is Malacanang park. From this park, we were told you can see the palace ; the view is similar to the photo in a P20 bill. (I will visit this park one day, if permitted by the PSG).

We went around the Main Hall and viewed the Gallery of the Presidents of the Philippines

Each President has his/her "souvenir" stuff, bust,portrait, copy of inaugural speech. There were also jewelry given to First Lady Eva and Imelda. GMA has her inaugural gown; Imelda has a gown adorned with peacock feathers. Funny that Erap's memento is so few compared with other presidents' . Of course, the famous wrist band was displayed.

There was a sculpture of a naked lady in marble, a wooden carving of Michael the Archangel ( i wonder where the artist got the appearance of an archangel). There's also a wooden carving depicting the first mass held in Limasawa. Rommel offered to take a family photo under this wooden painting (he was really nice). Sadly, that was the end of the tour of the second floor.

We went down and return to the empty reception hall. We alternately took shot at the podium; Patrick gave different poses; Zsa and me posed ordinarily and that's it. That wrapped up our sojourn to the historic Malacanang Museum. But wait, no tour is complete without souvenir--keychain and sticker (office of the president) hehehe

Lesson learned: take down notes for proper description of photos (which i forgot to do due to excitement)

Thanks to my lovely family for bearing with me and my hobby. My heartfelt thanks as well to the PSG for allowing me to bring my camera; to Rommel, our wonderful guide, and to the people responsible for maintaining the museum. Next stop lunch at Tong Yang.....