Entrance to National Museum now permanently free

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The National Museum of the Philippines is throwing its doors wide open, and no one needs to pay any entrance fee starting Friday.

The entrance to its other museums elsewhere in the country also is free of charge to encourage more Filipino and foreign visitors, it said on its official Facebook page on Thursday.

The National Museum has seen "significant spikes" in the number of visitors when admission was free of charge for the National Arts Month in February, National Heritage Month in May, and National Museums and Galleries Month in October.

The museum normally waives entrance fees during special occasions, such as International Museum Day, Independence Day, and National Women's Month.

The National Museum said it is able to waive the fee because of a “solid institutional budget drawn ultimately from all Filipino taxpayers through the national budget."

It used to charge P150 for adults, P120 for senior citizens, and P50 for students. Admission was free only on Sundays.

The National Museum is open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The National Museum of the Philippines is located along Taft Ave., Ermita, Manila.

Also under the National Museum of the Philippines are the National Art Gallery, Museum of the Filipino People and the Planetarium — both located in Rizal Park — and some museums in Palawan, Bohol, Butuan, Cebu, Marinduque, and Jolo.

CNN Philippines' intern Denise Valdez contributed to this story.