Embassy of the Philippines in Washington
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The embassy of the Philippines in Washington, D.C. predates the independence of the Philippines, and is the oldest Philippine legation overseas, though the distinction of the first Philippine embassy proper overseas belongs to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.
The original Philippine Embassy building was purchased by the Office of the Resident Commissioner of the Philippines during the period of service of Joaquin Elizalde. During World War II, from May 1942 onwards, it became the headquarters of the government-in-exile of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and temporary capital of the Philippines until the Commonwealth government returned to the Philippines in October, 1944.
On July 4, 1946, the embassy was formally established. A residence for the Philippine Ambassador was purchased in the 1950s, the original plan of President Quezon to turn the temporary official residence of the President of the Philippines located at the Shoreham Hotel having been abandoned by President Osmena.
In 1991, construction of a new Chancery Building began on a trapezoidal island on Massachusetts Avenue, bordered by 17th, N, and Bataan streets, across from the old building. Completed in 1993, the present-day building is a four-story of beaux-arts design with a smooth-finish precast, blending nicely with the traditional limestone structures of Embassy Row.
The old building, meanwhile, was boarded up and its fate remains undetermined.[citation needed]
