Now open daily, National Museums seek to attract even more visitors

MANILA, Philippines — The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) will open its doors to the public seven days a week.

NMP deputy director general for museums Jorell Legaspi announced the museum being open seven days a week starting this month during the unveiling of national hero Jose Rizal’s artwork “Josephine Sleeping,” inspired by his wife Josephine Bracken, at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila on Rizal Day, Dec. 30.

Previously, the NMP closed on Mondays, “when we clean our premises and maintain our collection,” and is open from Tuesday to Sunday.

Legaspi said admission to the NMP complex in Manila – the National Museum of Fine Arts that used to be the old Congress building, the National Museum of Anthropology and the National Museum of Natural History that used to be national government buildings – as well as 15 other museums under its watch across the country would remain free of charge to visitors, as it has been since 2016.

Nationwide, the NMP welcomed “close to three million visitors” in 2024, almost two million of which visited the NMP complex in Manila, he added.

Legaspi thanked the Marcos administration, its supporters in Congress and other stakeholders “for supporting the ongoing growth and strengthening of the NMP.”

He also disclosed that the NMP is set to open this year three new museums in Clark, Pampanga; Baler, Aurora and Davao City.

The proposed NMP Clark Museum will be located in what used to be the Clark Air Base Hospital, which Legaspi described as a “haunted hospital.”

The then hospital was used during World War II and the Vietnam War, when many soldiers died, according to online resources.