President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (File photo / RTV Malacañang)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday led the inauguration of the National Museum in Cebu City and took time to marvel at its exhibits before addressing the waiting crowd outside the facility.
“At the outset, allow me to apologize if we have kept you waiting. As a matter of fact if I had been left alone, you would still be waiting, and you can thank the First Lady for literally pulling my arm and dragging me out and saying ‘there are people waiting’,” the President told the crowd, which includes Cebu City and provincial officials, Cabinet members, and several lawmakers.
Fascinated
“And the reason why: It is fascinating in there. If you haven’t been in there, you are in for a very special treat,” he added.
Marcos explained that the exhibits would attract the interest of museum-goers.
According to him, it might require around a week of going to the museum religiously before one ultimately sees all the exhibits.
Museum tour
“The exhibits that have been put out, the way that they have been presented, the curation of the different artifacts, it has been done in such a splendid fashion that it would require perhaps a week of coming here everyday to properly see it,” he said.
“I am a museum type of person, so I tend to spend days in museums and I think so will you,” he added.
Marcos — a confessed frustrated scientist — toured the National Museum in Cebu over an hour after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Keen museum guest
The President listened intently to curators who explained the artifacts displayed, from excavated prehistoric animal remains, rock formation samples obtained in the region, bones of early humans in the area, and the tools they used.
The President has been transparent about his love for art and science.
In October 2022, Marcos admitted that he was a frustrated scientist, saying that he initially wanted to pursue a career in science but his father, namesake and former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. dissuaded him.
The first National Museum in Cebu, housed at the Aduana building or the Old Customs House and the Malacañan sa Sugbo, will start accepting guests starting August 1, Tuesday.
Open to the public, free of charge
The National Museum of the Philippines (NPM) said that the museum will be “partially opened” to the public from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Admission is free.
According to reports, the building was designed and built in 1910 by American Architect William Parsons, making it one of the few surviving structures that the American rule left in the Philippines.
“Built of reinforced concrete, the Aduana embodies American-influenced architecture while incorporating local building traditions,” NMP said.