Malacañang Palace

 

The Malacañang Palace or famous to the common Filipinos as the picture behind the 20 peso bill. Just a quick info first, Malacañang can be spelled in to two ways; Malacañang with a “g” at the end refers to the whole 16 hectare compound while the one without a “g” refers to the palace itself. One cannot tour the Malacañang freely if he wants to, there is a strict security regarding the tours around the Malacañang.

 

Let’s first start with the history of Malacañang. A man named Luis Rocha was the first recorded owner of the property. There were no clear facts of how it was constructed, it was only already said that the property was already built of stone designed as a country house enlocsed with a stone fence. Its past started to light up when Luis Rocha sold it to the Spanish government upon his death during 1825. However there were also some news about Rocha selling the property to the Spaniards during 1802. In 1863, an earthquake occurred in the Philippines and Manila was greatly hit. This phenomenon led to the transfer of the home of the Governor Generals from Intramuros to Malacañang. Years have passed and the Malacañang have gone through different disasters and events but it was continuously renovated because of its splendor and this was continued during the American era and the start of the Philippine era. Today, it is still used as the home of a leader which is the President of the Philippines and will most likely continue for many years on.

 

Inside the Malacañan Palace, two types of room have been noted. One as the Historic Rooms which are rooms that are significant to past presidents just like the Magsaysay Dining Room, Marcos Room and Laurel Room. And the second one is the State Rooms which are rooms the serve specific state functions and some of these are Rizal Ceremonial Hall where the death of Rizal was sentenced in 1896 and the Aguinaldo State Dining Room where Emilio Aguinaldo was confined upon his capture in 1901. It would be a great opportunity to tour the Malacañang palace, it can give us the glimpse of the events during the Spanish Era where our forefathers fought for our freedom. This palace has had the best and worst experiences, it can be considered as the true witness as history unfolds and maybe there’s more to be discovered in it.