PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan (PIA) -- The National Museum of the Philippines has opened to the public its new museum in Quezon, Palawan.

NMP Director-General Jeremy R. Barns led the opening of the Tabon Cave Complex--Lipuun Point Museum on Feb. 1.

The museum has four galleries highlighting Palawan as the ‘Cradle of Philippine Civilization.’

The first gallery entitled ‘Palawan: Cradle of Heritage’ serves as the general introduction of the history of Tabon Cave Complex. This gallery features replicas of some iconic treasures found in the Tabon Cave such as the Manunggul Jar and the Tabon skull cap.

The second gallery is called the ‘Surviving Heritage: The Tabon Cave Complex and its Diversity’ described as a testament to the status of Palawan as the ‘Last Ecological Frontier.’ This gallery exhibits the endemic species only found in the complex such as Begonias, ferns and monitor lizards.

The Bituun-The Spatial and Temporal Domains of Palawan Life is the third gallery that provides insights into the knowledge system of the various ethnolinguistic groups in Palawan.

TFinally, the last gallery is called the ‘Stories of Origins: The Archaeology of the Tabon Cave and the Beginning of our Heritage’. This gallery showcases the foundations of Philippine culture centering in Palawan and the story of how archaeological research at the Tabon Caves began in 1962.

“Right now, our National Museum of the Philippines, that stations here at the Tabon Cave Complex is open to the public starting Feb. 1, but what we can visit are our four galleries and our board walk only. So maybe after the grand opening, we will open everything, but as I have said, our Tabon Cave tour is by booking system,” Marible Campilan, administrative officer of the National Museum Tabon Caves Complex and Lipuun Point said in an interview.

According to Campilan, admission to the Tabon Cave Complex—Lipuun Point Museum and the Boardwalk is free, but paying the environmental fee to the Local Government Unit of Quezon is encouraged because it helps the LGU in the preservation of nature and the expansion of the tourism industry in the municipality. (OCJ/PIA MIMAROPA - Palawan)