Coconut Palace, Philippines

The Coconut Palace, or Tahanang Pilipino (Filipino Home), is a palace at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP Complex) in Pasay City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. The palace was built in 1981 by Imelda Marcos, the First Lady of the Philippines, purportedly intending it to be the official residence of the visiting Pope John Paul II. However, the pope is said to decline staying at the Coconut Palace, deeming it as too ostentacious a residence in a poverty-stricken nation.

According to Francisco Mañosa, who was the architect of the Coconut Palace, the building was planned long before the Pope decided to pay a visit to the Philippines. Contrary to the widespread belief that it was built to house the pope, Mañosa explained that the Coconut Palace, which makes ingenious use of the coconut, was intended to be a showcase of the coconut and its versatility.

The Coconut Palace was built using different types of hardwood found in the Philippines. It is octagonal in shape, with its roof said to resemble the salakot, or traditional Filipino hat. Coconut shells were put to creative use, in forming the chandelier, the dining table, and other forms of ornamentations of the palace.

Since 11 February, 2011, the Coconut Palace has been made the official office and residence of the Vice President of the Philippines.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Share your travels and/or ask a travel-related question

Join the Penang Travel Tips Facebook Group to share photos, tips and anything related to your travels, or ask travel-related questions.

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Discover with Timothy

Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Songs about Penang

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.