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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | October 29, 1901[1] |
| Preceding Agency |
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| Jurisdiction | Philippine arts and cultural development |
| Headquarters | National Museum of Fine Arts, Padre Burgos Avenue, Rizal Park, Ermita, Manila, Philippines 14°35′12″N120°58′52″E / 14.58667°N 120.98111°E /14.58667; 120.98111 |
| Motto | Non omnis moriar (Latin) |
| Employees | 387 (2024)[2] |
| Annual budget | ₱537.44 million (2021)[3] |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent department | Department of Education National Commission for Culture and the Arts |
| Website | nationalmuseum |
TheNational Museum of the Philippines (Filipino:Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number ofnational museums in the Philippines, includingethnographic,anthropological,archaeological, andvisual arts collections. From 1973 until 2021,[4] the National Museum served as the regulatory and enforcement agency of thegovernment of the Philippines in the restoring and safeguarding of significant cultural properties, sites, and reservations throughout the country. The mandate was then transferred to theNational Commission for Culture and the Arts.[5]
The National Museum operates theNational Museum of Fine Arts,National Museum of Anthropology, and theNational Museum of Natural History, all located in theNational Museum Complex in Manila. The institution also operates branch museums throughout the country.
The National Museum also established and operates regional museums across the Philippines, including the National Museum Eastern-Northern Mindanao (Butuan),National Museum Central Visayas (Cebu City),National Museum Western Visayas (Iloilo City), National Museum Western-Southern Mindanao (Zamboanga City), and National Museum Ilocos (Vigan City).
The first predecessor to the current National Museum of the Philippines was the Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas, which was established by royal decree by theSpanish colonial government in the Philippines on August 12, 1887. Its first museum library opened at theCasa de la Moneda, along Cabildo Street, on October 24, 1891. It later moved to a building along Gunao Street inQuiapo, before becoming defunct sometime around the onset of theAmerican occupation of the Philippines, in 1900.[6]
The American-supervisedPhilippine Commission established the Insular Museum of Ethnology, Natural History, and Commerce under theDepartment of Public Instruction on October 29, 1901, through Act No. 284, to replace the museum library. The Insular Museum was founded to complement the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, which was later renamed as the Bureau of Ethnological Survey. After theLouisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, the Insular Museum was renamed to the Philippine Museum. The Bureau of Ethnological Survey was abolished as a separate bureau and was reorganized as the Division of Ethnology under the Bureau of Education in 1905. It was subsequently moved to the Bureau of Science in 1906.[7]
In 1916, the organization of the Philippine Museum underwent another overhaul. Through Act No. 2572, the Philippine Library and Museum was created through the merger of the Division of Ethnology and the Fine Arts Division of the Philippine Museum. The Philippine Museum's Natural History Division was retained under the Bureau of Science.[7]
The National Museum of the Philippine Islands would be established on December 7, 1928, through Act No. 3477, and placed under the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It was abolished in 1933 by Act No. 4007. The Division of Fine Arts was placed under the Philippine Library and Museum (nowNational Library of the Philippines), while the Division of Ethnology was placed under the Bureau of Science. The National Museum Division was created from the merger of the Division of Ethnology and the Natural History Division. The National Museum Division was renamed as the National History Museum Division, with the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce named as its parent agency via Commonwealth Act No. 453, in 1939. The division was later merged to the National Library's Division of Fine Arts to become the National Museum, under the Office of the Executive Secretary.[7]
TheJapanese occupation of the Philippines duringWorld War II brought the Natural History Museum Division and the National Library's Fine Arts Division back under a single organization, but the museum lost a large part of its collection during theLiberation of Manila of 1945, when theOld Legislative Building and the Bureau of Science Building were destroyed. The organization that resulted from the divisions' merger was named the National Museum and placed under the Office of the Executive Secretary.[6]
The museum's role in cultural growth was recognized as contributing to the government's desire for national development.[8] In 1966, PresidentFerdinand Marcos signed Republic Act No. 4846, or the Cultural Properties and Protection Act.[citation needed] On September 12, 1991, PresidentCory Aquino signed Proclamation No. 798, declaring October as "Museum and Galleries Month", a celebration to be led by the National Museum, whose aims were to arouse national consciousness and pride in the Philippines' rich culture and national identity, expressed in all media of art and culture as well as historical and religious artifacts.[9] In 2013, PresidentNoynoy Aquino launched the construction of theNational Museum of Natural History, which opened in 2018. Aquino also backed the construction and development of several regional museums, including inBatanes,Vigan,Marinduque,Bohol, andIloilo, while supporting the heritage preservation projects of the National Museum, including the restoration of churches damaged by natural calamities, such as inCebu, Bohol, andEastern Samar.[10]
From 2013 to 2015, entry to museums administered by the National Museum was made free in cooperation with the Aquino government;[11] this policy became permanent in 2016.[12] In 2019, PresidentRodrigo Duterte changed the agency's name from National Museum to National Museum of the Philippines through Republic Act No. 11333.[13]
In 2025, the museum extended its opening hours to include all seven days of the week, having previously been closed on Mondays.[14]
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The National Museum Complex consists of the central museums of the National Museum of the Philippines inMetro Manila. These are theNational Museum of Fine Arts, theNational Museum of Anthropology, and theNational Museum of Natural History. TheNational Planetarium is also part of this complex.
| Museum | Opened | |
|---|---|---|
| National Museum of Anthropology | _(2014)_a0001.JPG) | 1998 |
| National Museum of Fine Arts |  | 2000 |
| National Museum of Natural History | _in_2019.jpg) | 2018 |
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The National Museum has also established numerous satellite museums outside Metro Manila. Currently, there are no regional museums in 10 of 18 regions in the country, namelyCagayan Valley,Central Luzon,Calabarzon,Mimaropa,Bicol,Eastern Visayas,Northern Mindanao,Davao Region,Soccsksargen, andBangsamoro. Regional museums are mandated by law. Small area- or site museums exist in some of the country's regions.
| Museum | Location | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| NMP – Bohol | Bohol | |
| NMP – Butuan (NM Caraga Regional Museum) | Butuan City, Agusan del Norte | 1978 |
| NMP – Cebu (NM Central Visayas Regional Museum) | Cebu City, Cebu | 2023 |
| NMP – Cordillera (NM Cordillera Regional Museum) | Kiangan, Ifugao | 1984 |
| NMP – Davao (NM Davao Regional Museum) | Davao City, Davao | 2024 |
| NMP – Ilocos (NM Ilocos Regional Museum Complex) | Vigan City andMagsingal, Ilocos Sur | 2015 |
| NMP – Iloilo (NM Western Visayas Regional Museum) | Iloilo City, Iloilo | 2019 |
| NMP – Zamboanga (NP Zamboanga Regional Museum) | Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur | 1986 |
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| Museum | Location | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| NMP – Batanes | Uyugan, Batanes[15] | 2012 |
| NMP – Bicol | Daraga, Albay | 1992 |
| NMP – Bohol | Tagbilaran City, Bohol | 2018 |
| NMP – Cagayan | Peñablanca, Cagayan | 1980 |
| NMP – Dumaguete | Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental | 2022 |
| NMP – Marinduque-Romblon | Boac, Marinduque | 1995 |
| NMP – Sulu | Jolo, Sulu | 1982 |
| Museum | Location | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| NMP – Kabayan (NM Kabayan Burial Caves Site Museum) | Kabayan, Benguet | 1982 |
| NMP – Rizal (NM Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs Site Museum) | Angono andBinangonan, Rizal | 1973 |
| NMP – Tabon Caves Complex | Quezon, Palawan | 1972 |
The National Museum had a satellite museum inBolinao, Pangasinan, anarcheological museum featuring historic objects retrieved from the different parts of the province, first opened in 1970.[clarification needed][16]
A national planetarium was first planned in the 1970s by former National Museum director Godofredo Alcasid Sr., with the assistance of Maximo P. Sacro Jr. of thePhilippine Weather bureau and one of the founders of the Philippine Astronomical Society.
Construction began in 1974 and was completed nine months later. It was formally inaugurated on October 8, 1975. Presidential Decree No. 804-A, issued on September 30, 1975, affirmed the planetarium's status. The site is between the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden atRizal Park.[17] The planetarium was decommissioned and closed in 2021 due to development works by theNational Parks Development Committee.[18]
In 2024, the National Museum assumed possession of the ancestral house ofAniceto Lacson, the first and only president of theNegros Republic, located inTalisay, Negros Occidental, after it was donated by Lacson's heirs. P20 million was allotted to restore the house as part of plans to convert it into a museum.[19]
In July 2025, the National Museum announced that it would open a branch inBaler, Aurora, later in the year.[20]
In 2023, theSmithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., agreed to return the remains of 64 Filipinos that it acquired without consent during theAmerican occupation for anthropological research, including to support racist beliefs about white supremacy, to the National Museum, following discussions with the latter and the Philippine Embassy.[21]
In February 2024, the museum received a donation of four early 19th-century panels depicting various saints from the pulpit ofBoljoon Church in Cebu fromUnion Bank of the Philippines CEOEdwin Bautista. The news of the donation led to demands from theArchdiocese of Cebu as well as officials and residents of the province for the panels to be repatriated, citing the fact that they had gone missing from the church during the 1980s due to either theft or an illegal sale by the parish priest.[22] In response, the museum said that it was open to share the panels with Cebu, adding that the donors procured the panels through legitimate means, "highlighting their commitment to ethical acquisition".[23] A copy of the deed of donation of the panels obtained byRappler read that the panels should stay with the museum, which would hold them in perpetuity and put them on display, while acknowledging that they came from Boljoon Church.[24]
On April 1, theCebu Provincial Board passed a motion to file charges against the National Museum and others who took custody of the panels.[25] On May 8, the museum's board of trustees ruled in favor of returning the panels to Boljoon Church,[26] which it finalized on March 14, 2025.[27]
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