Inside the National Museum of Natural History

ARTICLE AND VIDEO: Paul Michael Jaramillo, VoicePoints Chairman and Executive Editor

PHOTOS: Elton Encina, VoicePoints Photography Desk Bureau Chief

The long wait is over! In celebration of the International Museum Day on 18 May 2018, the National Museum of Natural History opened its door to the public.

The new museum is part of the National Museum complex in Manila, along with the National Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Anthropology.

It is hosted inside the building formerly occupied by the Department of Tourism within Rizal Park near the Agrifina Circle. The building now occupied by the museum was built as the Agriculture and Commerce Building in 1940. The neoclassical building and was designed by Filipino architect, Antonio Toledo in the late 1930s.

Like the other museums in the complex, admission to the Natural History museum is free.

It is meant to house exhibits on the Philippines’ unique flora and fauna. It includes more than 10 galleries on plants, animals, and fungi unique to the country, plus the preserved remains of Lolong, the longest crocodile held in captivity.

The ‘Tree of Life’, a glass dome, lets natural light come into the courtyard where a huge structure of a DNA helix-shaped elevator can be found.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10AM-5PM. For more information, visit National Museum’s website.

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