Malacañán Palace
The Malacañán Palace (Palasyo ng Malakanyang in Filipino) is the official residence of the President of the Philippines. It is located on the north bank of the Pasig River in the district from San Miguel, Manila. It appears printed on the back of the 20-peso bill. The term "Malacañang" it is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers. The sprawling Malacañang Palace complex includes numerous mansions and office buildings designed and built largely in the bahay na bato and neoclassical style.
Since 1863, the Palace has been occupied by eighteen Spanish Governors General, fourteen American Civil and Military Governors, and later the Presidents of the Philippines. The palace had been enlarged and remodeled several times since 1750; the grounds were expanded to include neighboring properties, and many buildings were demolished and built during the Spanish and American periods. Its posts were reinforced, the tiles were replaced by sheets of corrugated iron, the balconies were repaired and both the exterior and interior were embellished. More recently, between 1978 and 1979, the Palace building was drastically remodeled and extensively rebuilt by First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos during the tenure of Ferdinand Marcos.
History
Origin and Hispanic period
The original structure was built in 1750 by Luís Rocha, a Spanish galleon trader, who built it as a summer home located in San Miguel, Paco and Santa Ana along the Pásig River. The Rocha estate was built of stone, described as a relatively modest country house (although modern Rochas say it was not small and in fact contained a ballroom)[citation needed] with a bathhouse on the river and gardens, all enclosed by a stone fence. The latter was probably a nipa-roofed, bamboo-fringed structure built over the water, out of sight of passing ships. It was easily accessible from Intramuros and Binondo by boat, carriage, or horseback. It was purchased by the state in 1825 as the summer residence of the Spanish Governor-General after the death of Colonel José Miguel Formente.
After an earthquake on June 3, 1863, which destroyed the official residence of the Governor General Palacio del Gobernador in the walled city of Intramuros, Malacañán became the official seat of power for Spanish colonial rule.
US domain
Use of the palace as the official state residence of colonial rulers continued after sovereignty over the islands was ceded to the United States in 1898. General Wesley Merritt was the first American governor to use the estate as his home. In 1920 Governor General Francis Burton Harrison built the Executive Building.
Malacañan was the only major government building in Manila to survive heavy artillery shelling during World War II. The palace continued to be the jewel of the still fashionable neighborhood of San Miguel, spared in the war.
Republican era
Among the presidents of the current Fifth Republic, only Gloria Macapagal Arroyo actually lived in the main Palace as her office and residence, and all the others resided in nearby properties that are part of the larger Palace complex, the first being Manuel L. Quezon.
The Palace has been taken over several times as a result of protests beginning with the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the 1989 coup attempt (when the Palace was bombed by T-28 Trojans); the 2001 Manila riots; and EDSA III in the May 1 riots.