History of the National Museum
The National Museum was established in Manila on October 29, 1901 as the 'Insular Museum of Ethnology, Natural History and Commerce under the ethnology, Department of Public Instruction by Virtue of Act No. 284 passed by the Philippine Commission. Since then, it has changed names and location, placed under various departments and offices, merged, abolished, transferred and re-created to become the 'National Musuem.'
On February 12, 1998, Republic Act 8492 also known as the 'National Museum Act of 1998', finally established the National Museum as an independent institution with a permanent and exclusive site known as the National Museum Complex. This consists of the National Museum Main(former Old Congress Building), which houses the National Art Gallery, the Museum of the Filipino People (former Finance Building), and the Department of the Tourism Building which shall become the Museum of Natural History. Per P.D. 804-A, the Planetarium is also administered and maintained by the National Museum.
The National Museum at present is composed of 12 disciplines in the areas of anthropology, archaeology, arts, geology, museum education, cultural properties, planetarium, zoology, botany, restoration and engineering, chemistry and conservation, and archaeological sites and branch museums. It has 19 branches and sites nationwide.