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Malacanang Palace on the bank of the Pasig River in San Miguel is a lesson to everyone who does not know that many rulers of poor countries live in more luxury than those of rich countries. Malacanang, the living quarters of the deposed president Fer-dinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, can be visited as a museum.

The museum is a major sightseeing attrac-tion not only for foreign tourists but for lo-cals as well. In the first months after the downfall of the Marcoses, so many people wanted to visit Malacanang, that in order to control the number of viewers, they had to get first their tickets at the Department of Tourism. Then, they still had to stand in line for hours to get in. Even now, on Saturdays when admission is free, hundreds of people visit the palace.

Apart from its social and political in-decency as the former seat of a dictator-ship, Malacanang Palace is a nice piece of architecture. It was built along the Pasig river as The Country residence of a Spanish nobleman, and therefore was named by the Philippine fishermen May lakan iyan, meaning "noble people are living here".

The Spanish colonial government took over the place in 1825 and used it as residence for its general governors from 1863. In the next 35 years, Malacanang was damaged several times by earthquakes, fires and typhoons. But each time it was repaired, it came out more magnificent than before. From 1899 onwards, U.S. governors replaced the Spanish and improved the area according to their way of life. When the Philippines gained partial independence from the U.S. in 1935, Malacanang became the of-ficial and regular residence of the Philippine presidents, until Mrs Aquino came to power.

Since the Malacanang's main building serves as a museum now, President Cory Aquino holds office in a secondary building of less grandiose proportions, the so-called Malacanang guest house.

Jeepneys from the handicraft market under the Quezon bridge, Quiapo, with the destina-tion "San Miguel" pass the palace.

Viewing Schedule
Monday and Tuesday
9:00-11:00, 13:00-17:00
guided tour, entr P 200
Thursday and Friday
9:00-11:00; guided tour, entr P 200
12:00-15:00, public viewing
entr P 5/10 children/adult
Saturday
9:00-15:00, public viewing; entr free
Closed Wednesday and Sunday

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