Malacañang says website containing historical records not deleted, ‘merely suspended’
Malacañang has clarified that contrary to reports, a palace website containing historical records was not deleted from the internet.
The clarification comes after the official website of the Malacañang Palace, which contains the Presidential Museum and Library and other historical records, has been rendered inaccessible since Monday, May 16.
Manuel “Manolo” Quezon III, who was a Presidential Communications secretary during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III, tweeted about the apparent inaccessibility of the site on May 16.
“malacanang.gov.ph where the repositories of the Presidential Museum and Library were, is gone,” Quezon wrote.
https://t.co/Z7SLJ8ijdJ where the repositories of the Presidential Museum and Library were, is gone.
— Manuel L. Quezon III (@mlq3) May 16, 2022
The Presidential Museum and Library serves as a repository of historical information about the country’s past and present chiefs-of-state. It also includes the records of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. and the Martial Law regime.
In a thread, Quezon shared links to the country’s historical events such as the fall of the Marcos regime, the People Power Revolution, the death of former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., the proceedings of the 1986 to 1987 Constitutional Commission, and the timeline of the Jabidah Massacre, among others.
Quezon addressed the concerns of netizens in a separate tweet, saying Malacañang’s website can be unavailable due to many reasons. He added that content on the site “was archived before June 30, 2016.”
“To be deleting http://malacanang.gov.ph could be as simple as someone wanting the online real estate for some other government purpose, or lack of interest in a museum site,” he said.
To be clear: deleting https://t.co/3Kynli7rBl could be as simple as someone wanting the online real estate for some other government purpose, or lack of interest in a museum site. Content there was archived before June 30, 2016 in site for public access/use so beyond gov't reach.
— Manuel L. Quezon III (@mlq3) May 16, 2022
The Malacañang Museum explained in a May 17 Facebook post that its website has been unavailable "to update the content.”
“Please be informed that, contrary to reports that it has been deleted, the website malacanang.gov.ph is merely suspended following measures to update the content therein and improve its security features,” Malacañang Museum’s statement read.
The Museum also assured the public that the contents of the website will not be “compromised” and will be made available at the “soonest possible time.”
Malacañang’s website remains down, as of this writing.