The Malacanang Palace is the traditional seat of the Executive Branch, meaning that the Philippine President would usually work and live there. The root word for Malacanang is lakan which means power or ruler. In many ways, it is a close equivalent to the White House. While I was there, I was lucky enough to explore its many rooms and learn about its history. Each room presented a different aspect of the Philippines' Political History. For example, one of the rooms is dedicated to the Corazon Aquino, the first female president of the Philippines. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take my own photos due to the strict security policy at the palace. The Malacanang Palace was very nice! I liked how the each room told a different aspect of Philippines Political History. However, I wondered why the portraits of the various first ladies lacked labels. Since none of the paintings had their names, it was very hard for me to identify who exactly I was looking at. Also, as our tour guide mentioned, the room was missing the first gentleman of the Philippines. As someone who is not completely familiar with Philippine History and/or Philippine Politics, it was a bit difficult to follow along as we moved from room to room. I wish we were given a little more time to take in and analyze the different artifacts in each room. Moreover, the tour made me wonder if the palace would be affected by the upcoming elections. Would the new president be able to alter the palace as he or she pleases? Also, if Marcos were to win, would he leave it alone or would he return it to how it was during his dad’s presidency? In all, I thought it was a very timely visit, as elections are coming up next May. However, it would’ve been cool to meet President Aquino and not just his wax figurine. |