The Museum's mandate to serve the community and the nation is captured by the phrase re-collecting the past, re-presenting the future. We re-collect our past by bringing back to the country overseas collections to share with the Filipino people; we re-present the future by situating contemporary Philippine art in the global arena in a two-way highway of mutual cooperation and exchange with local and international partners. With the existing core collections enhanced by loans from private and public collections, the museum maintains its twofold identity as both historical and art museum.