Malacañang Palace, Philippines
It is known as a home and the official residence of the President of the Philippines. The palace is also referred to as the office of the president, as well as in everyday parlance and in the media. Malacañang Palace (Malacañan Palace) or Filipinos called it Palasyo ng Malakanyang is located along the north bank of the Pasig River in Manila. The term “Malacañang” is a metonym for the Philippine President’s administration, or the Executive branch. Whatever its origin, the word Malacañang is indisputably Spanish. Americans, who occupied the Philippines from 1898 until 1946, referred to the Palace as Malacañan, owing to their linguistic difficulty with the Spanish name. The word “Malacañan” remains to this day an acceptable English version name of the Palace.
In the late 18th century, Malacañang Palace was first constructed by a Spanish nobleman, Don Luis Rocha, and was later the summer residence of the 18 Spanish governors general and 14 American civil governors, before becoming the official residence of the President of the Philippines after independence. Originally built as a private country house, Malacañang was developed into an ornate Spanish colonial palace complete with arches, patios, balconies, grilles, and sliding windows with panes made of capiz shells. Thereafter it was renovated on several occasions including most extensively during the residence of President Marcos.
Malacañang Palace is the official office of the President which is equivalent to the United States’ Oval Office of the White House. It is on the second floor of the Palace itself, while the old Executive Office in Kalayaan Hall has been renamed the Quezon Room. The desk is the presidential desk in use since the Commonwealth of the Philippines, when the official desk of the American governor-generals was brought to the United States; it was used by all presidents from Quezon to Marcos (officially until 1978, then in his private study), restored by President Ramos, used by First Lady Loi Ejercito Estrada, and restored once more by President Arroyo.
Recently, the complex has the Malacañang Palace, the Bonifacio Hall, Kalayaan Hall, Mabini Hall, and the New Executive building. Everyone would find Malacañang Park across the river that has a golf course and the Commonwealth era presidential rest house. The architectural style of the Malacañang Presidential Palace in Manila has undergone several alterations since the last 150 years and has lost its original architectural merit. It is seen with arches, balconies, frills and sliding windows.
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