Malacañang Palace (Filipino: Palasyo ng Malakanyang, locally [paˈlɐ̞ʃo näŋ maläkɐˈɲäŋ]), officially known as Malacañán Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila district of San Miguel, along Jose Laurel Street, though it is commonly associated with nearby Mendiola Street. The term Malacañang is often used as a metonym for the president, their advisers, and the Office of the President of the Philippines. The sprawling Malacañang Palace complex includes numerous mansions and office buildings designed and built largely in the bahay na bato and neoclassical styles. Among the presidents of the present Fifth Republic, only Gloria Macapagal Arroyo actually lived in the main palace as both her office and her residence, with all others residing in nearby properties that form part of the larger palace complex. The palace has been seized several times as a result of protests starting with the People Power Revolution of 1986, the 1989 coup attempt (when the palace was buzzed by T-28 Trojans), the 2001 Manila riots, and the EDSA III riots.

The original structure was built in 1750 by Don Luis José de la Rocha Camiña, a Spaniard physician in the galleon trade, who built it as a summer house with his wife, Gregoria Tuason de Zaballa, daughter of don Antonio Tuason and doña Justa de Zaballa. It is located in San Miguel, along the Pasig River. The Rocha property was built of stone and described as being a relatively modest country house (although modern-day Rochas say it was not small and in fact had a ballroom) with a bath house on the river and gardens, all enclosed by a stone fence. The latter was probably a nipa-roofed and bamboo-enclosed structure built on the water, away from the gaze of passing boats. It was easily accessible from Intramuros and Binondo by boat, carriage, or horseback. Malacañan was purchased by the state in 1825 as the summer residence for the Spanish governor-general upon Colonel José Miguel Formento's death.

Following an earthquake on June 3, 1863, which destroyed the governor-general's official residence, the Palacio del Gobernador in the walled city of Intramuros, Malacañan became the official seat of power of Spanish colonial rule. The use of the palace as the official state residence of colonial rulers continued after sovereignty over the islands was ceded to the United States in 1898. General Wesley Merritt was the first American governor to make use of the estate as his residence.

Since 1863, the palace has been occupied by eighteen Spanish governors-general, fourteen American military and civil governors, and later the presidents of the Philippines. The palace had been enlarged and refurbished several times since 1750; the grounds were expanded to include neighboring estates, and many buildings were demolished and constructed during the Spanish and American periods. Its posts were strengthened, roof tiles replaced with corrugated iron sheets, balconies repaired, and both the exterior and interior were beautified. More recently, between 1978 and 1979, the palace building was drastically remodeled and extensively rebuilt by First Lady Imelda Marcos during the tenure of Ferdinand Marcos. Malacañang was the only major government building in Manila to survive heavy artillery bombing during the Second World War. The palace continues to be the centerpiece of the upscale district of San Miguel, spared by the war.

The earliest document to address the building's roots was the Compendio de la Historia de Filipinas written in 1877 by Spanish historian Felipe de Govantes, in which he stated that the term Malacañán meant "place of the fisherman". This was again referenced in the 1895 Historia general de Filipinas by José Montero y Vidal and the Historia de Filipinas by Manuel Artigas y Cuerva in 1916. In 1972, Ileana Maramag in her work on Malacañan history supplied the Tagalog word: mamalakáya, which means fisherman. The original denomination for the location is believed to be Mamalakáya-han, with the Tagalog suffix -han meaning "place of", later simplified by the Spanish colonial authorities as Malacañán and adapted according to Spanish orthography.

During the Spanish colonial era, Spanish-language books that were published at the time spelled the word as Malacañang. The name was changed to "Malacañan" during the American occupation of the Philippines from 1898 until 1946, supposedly for ease of pronunciation despite the fact that "-ng" as a final sound is very familiar in the English language. However, after the inauguration of President Ramon Magsaysay on December 30, 1953, the Philippine government reverted the name to Malacañang in honor of the palace's historical roots. During the administration of Corazon Aquino, for historical reasons, government policy was introduced to distinguish between both terms; while "Malacañan Palace" refers to the official residence of the president, "Malacañang" is addressed as the office of the president. Currently, the heading Malacañan Palace is reserved for official documents personally signed by the president, while those delegated to and signed by subordinates use the heading Malacañang.^{[citation needed]}

The Spanish captains-general (before the independence of New Spain, from which the Philippines was directly governed) and the later governors-general originally resided at the Palacio del Gobernador (Governor's Palace) fronting the city square in the walled city of Intramuros in Manila. Malacañang Palace was originally built as a casita (or country house) in 1750, made of adobe and wood, with interiors panelled with the finest narra and molave. It sits on 16-hectare land owned by Spanish aristocrat don Antonio V. Rocha. It was subsequently sold to Col. José Miguel Formento on November 16, 1802, for a sum of a thousand pesos. Later, it was sold to the government upon his death in January 1825. With its expansive gardens and lazy verandah overlooking the placid Pasig River, Malacañan became the temporary summer home of governors-general, escaping the hectic bustle and unbearable heat of Intramuros.

An earthquake on June 3, 1863, destroyed the Palacio del Gobernador, and thereafter, Malacañang became the governor-general's official residence. Rafaél de Echagüe y Bermingham, previously governor of Puerto Rico, became the first Spanish governor-general to reside in the palace. Finding the place too small, he expanded the estate with a wooden two-story addition to the back of the original structure. He also added stables, carriage sheds, a boat landing for river-borne visitors, and smaller buildings for aides, guards, and porters.^{[citation needed]}