National Museum of Anthropology

The National Museum of Anthropology was known as the Museum of the Filipino People. The National Museum of the Philippines' component museum houses Archaeological and Ethnological exhibitions.
It was built in 1916-1918 by Canadian-American architect Ralph Harrington Doane from a neoclassical design when he was consulting architect to the Philippine government. The building formerly housed the Department of Finance, the wreck of the San Diego, ancient artifacts, and zoology divisions.

The National Museum of Anthropology stages the Philippine ethnographic and terrestrial and underwater archaeological collections narrating the story of the Philippines from the past, as presented through artifacts as pieces of evidence of its pre-history.

Our Mission: The National Museum of the Philippines is a Trust of the Government. It acquires and preserves artifacts and specimens that are representative of the rich cultural heritage of the Philippines and the country's natural history. The National Museum Complex in Manila and the National Planetarium are its museums. There is also a number of regional museums located in important locations throughout the country. National Museum of the Philippines is responsible for the development and management of the country's reference collections.

These include cultural heritage fine arts and archaeology as well as natural history botany and paleontology. It also conducts permanent research in the fields of biodiversity, geological and human history, cultural heritage maritime and underwater cultural heritage, ethnology and art history and other cultural property that can be moved or immoveable. Mandates and objectives