The Santo Nino Shrine and Heritage Centre is in Tacloban on the island of Leyte. It was built for Imelda Marcos, who was born in the town.

Upstairs are living quarters for the Marcoses, their children, and Ferdinand's bodyguard. Downstairs, as well as a suite of rooms for the then president's brother, are thirteen bedrooms; not one of these rooms has ever been slept in.

Some of the many reception rooms have been used, which is something I guess, but on the whole it is a fine example of money squandered uselessly in this era of extreme corruption.

The whole house was furninshed with a multitude of antiques from around the world, Austrian mirrors being a pariticular feature of a,lmost every room.

The guest rooms are each in a different theme; a little touch that I really like was that each room had a signed picture of Ferdinand, and a diarama showing Imelda performing some beneficial act or another.

Read about my adventures in the Philippines here

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