First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos said the public can now access 66,000 books from Malacañang that were restored by the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) and stored at its newly inaugurated Permanent Gallery.

Marcos said this as she graced the inauguration of the Permanent Gallery in Manila on Aug. 9.

In a speech, the First Lady thanked the NLP for taking care of all the 66,000 books she found in Malacañan as part of her mission to fix a room in the Palace once a week.

"Part of my duties as 'Fierce Lady' is to fix a room a week in Malacañan. We went to a room and it was full of books— cultural books, heritage books, law books. There were 66,000 books all in all," she said.

"Some of them were on the flood, some of them were amag (had molds). The law books, especially, were first edition, signed by the authors themselves. So as a law student, you would die for something like that," she added.

According to Marcos, the books that were turned over to the NLP are now all in good condition and the public can access them for free.

"All 66,000 books were sent here. They (NLP) rebound it; they cataloged it properly. It's now on the second floor of the mezzanine; aircon, free for all," she said.

"It's so nice you did that for the country. Thank you very much," she added.

The inauguration of the new Permanent Gallery on Aug. 9 was part of the NLP's 137th Founding Anniversary celebration.

Aside from the books from Malacañang, the NLP Permanent Gallery will also house the 1734 Murillo Velarde Map, which can be accessed by the public at no cost.  

Dubbed the "Mother of all Philippine Maps," Filipino businessman, Mel Velasco Velarde acquired the map at Sotheby’s auction in London in 2012 and entrusted it to NLP for permanent display. This map was used at the arbitration tribunal in claiming the country's rights over the West Philippine Sea.

The gallery also features an array of historical artifacts such as Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, annotated by Dr. José Rizal; De Moluccis Insulis; and Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala.

Visitors can find significant works from the Propaganda Movement, such as Pedro Paterno’s Ninay: Costumbres Filipinas, and publications like La Solidaridad.

The original manuscripts of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo, and Mi Último Adios, were also showcased in the Permanent Gallery.