This Motillium ad spoofs an imaginary encounter between Ate Glow (a.k.a. Rene Boy Facunda), who impersonates Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and a Barack Obama look-alike.

9. Top-drawer guest list. Malacañan is probably the only place in the country that has entertained as many big celebrity guests as the Manila Hotel, another historic landmark that has endured from the Spanish colonial era. Through its Grand Staircase, where each new President would enter to officially assume office, so many celebrated soles, foreign and local, have passed--popes, kings and queens, heads of state, entertainers, and athletes.

Two of the more notable guests, for historic reasons, were His Majesty King Juan Carlos I de Borbon and US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower became the first incumbent US president to visit the Philippines when he arrived in Manila on June 14, 1960. In fact, he was the first chief executive of his country to visit a former colony. It was also a nostalgic visit. As a lieutenant colonel in the 1930s, Eisenhower was the aide of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who served as the military adviser of Quezon. Eisenhower used to hold office in Malacañan.

On the other hand, King Juan Carlos I was the first of the Spanish royalty to have set foot on what was once the residence of his ancestors' governor generals since the Philippines got its independence in 1898. He is a grandson and the successor of King Alfonso XIII, who was the reigning monarch (1886 to 1931) during the Philippine revolutionary period. His first state visit was in 1974, with President Ferdinand Marcos as incumbent. He was still a prince then but already acting head of state, appointed by Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Spain's authoritarian leader then, was already ailing. The prince was here, among other things, to attend the reinstallation of the statue of Queen Isabella II in Intramuros. The queen was his great grandmother.

His next visit, as a King with his wife, Queen Sofia, was in 1995. It was to reciprocate the visit of President Fidel V. Ramos to Spain the previous year. In 1998, they were here again to attend the Centennial of Philippine Independence, with President Joseph Estrada as the incumbent.

In 1966, four British pop stars were eagerly expected in Malacañang by First Lady Imelda Marcos. Through some mix-up with the promoters and Palace staff, the musicians--better known as The Beatles--never showed up. The alleged snub of the First Lady made the headlines of the broadsheets. After the concert at the Rizal Memorial Coliseuem, The Beatles had to carry their own luggage from the Manila Hotel and literally run for their lives at the airport with a mob of angry Marcos supporters close on their heels.

If only the Palace's walls could talk.

10. Cost of housekeeping. From a modest summer house, Malacañan has expanded to a high-security complex of buildings. Since Spanish times, some of its tenants would do their bit of redecorating and renovation. Some of the work was really necessary. In its long history, the Palace has been damaged ever now and then--by earthquake in 1872, by fire and storm in 1873, by another earthquake in 1880, by gunfire during World War II in 1945, and another fire in 1982.

But the most extensive structural changes were ordered by First Lady Imelda Marcos through the 20 years that her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, was in power.

So how much do taxpayers have to shell out for the upkeep of this prime bit of real estate? According to a report of the Commission on Audit, the Palace housekeeping cost was P2.36 billion in 2006. That's P196 million a month. Or more dramatically, P6.5 million a day. Now that's one good reason for voters to make sure that whoever they get into the Palace would prove worth the housekeeping bills.

For more information, visit the website of the Malacañang Museum. The documentary, "The Road to Malacañan," is available at the Probe website.

Art by Warren Espejo, photo of Malacañan palace from an undated postcard.