National Museum of the Philippines, was founded in 1901 as the Museum of Natural History and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Philippines. It is located in Manila near Rizal Park and the old district of Intramuros. Its main building was built in 1918 by the American architect Daniel Burnham. Once it housed the Philippine Congress, and in 2003 it occupied division of the museum - the National Art Gallery and the exhibition of natural history. At the close of the building, where previously housed the office of the Department of Finance, today is another division of the museum - the Museum of the Filipino People, keeping the anthropological and archaeological collections. Today is also the transformation of the former building of the Department of Tourism in the Museum of Natural History.

In the 1970s, the then director of the museum Godofredo Alkasida had the idea of ​​building Planetarium, supported by Maximo Sacro Jr., one of the founders of the Philippine Astronomical Society and a member of the State Weather Bureau. The project was presented to First Lady Imelda Marcos, who demanded that the Department of Public Works find funds for the construction of the Planetarium. Construction began in 1974 and lasted for nine months. In 1975, the Planetarium, located in Rizal Park between Chinese Garden and Reading Centre, was officially opened. Today it hosts lectures and exhibitions that introduce visitors to astronomy and its development in the Philippines. It features a realistic show on various celestial bodies. In 1998, the planetarium was included in the National Museum.

The National Art Gallery is a few exhibitions devoted to the art of the Philippines. In the main hall are kept works by artists of the 19th century Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo. Arellano Hall dedicated to the artist and architect Juan Arellano, one of the builders of the building. The exhibition "Ships of the Faith" presents various examples of Filipino spirituality, who are familiar with the system of beliefs of local people, their rituals and traditions. Finally, the exhibition 'Hungry for freedom ", telling about Filipinos fight against colonialism and the various forms of oppression, you can learn about the fate of the national heroes of sacrifice and cruelty, brutality, and the spirit of freedom and independence.

Today, at the National Museum of the Philippines kept a huge collection of artifacts related to anthropology, archeology, geology, zoology, botany, art and culture of the Philippines and their peoples. Across the country are 19 branches of the museum.