The Malacañan Palace, commonly known simply as Malacañang or "the Palace", is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Philippines. It is located at 1000 José P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila. The house was built in 1750 in Spanish Colonial style. It has been the residence of every Philippine head of government since Rafael de Echague y Berminghan. During the American period, Governors-General Francis Burton Harrison and Dwight F. Davis built an executive building, the Kalayaan Hall, which was later transformed into a museum.

Originally a summer house built by Spanish aristocrat Don Luís Rocha, the structure was sold to Colonel Jose Miguel Formente, and was later purchased by the state in 1825. Since then, Malacañan Palace became the temporary residence of every Governor-General. During the Spanish–American War, Malacañan Palace became the residence of the American Civil Governors, William Howard Taft being the first. During the American period, many administrative buildings were constructed and the Palace was refurbished. To date, Emilio Aguinaldo, was the only head of state who did not live in the Palace complex, instead residing in his private home, in Kawit, Cavite. The Palace was seized by rebels several times, starting from the People Power Revolution, the 1989 coup attempt, where the palace was bombed by T-28 Trojans, the 2001 Manila riots, EDSA II and the May 1 riots.

Hassanal Bolkiah, GCB GCMG (full name: Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and the lands under its sovereignty. He is also the first and incumbent Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam. The eldest son of the late Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III (later the Begawan Sultan) and the late Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit (later the Suri Seri Begawan Raja), he succeeded to the throne following the voluntary abdication of his father as the 28th Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam on 4 October 1967.

Under Brunei's 1959 constitution, the Sultan is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers since 1962. On 9 March 2006, the Sultan was reported to have amended Brunei's constitution to make himself infallible under Bruneian law. Bolkiah is also the Prime Minister as well as holding the portfolios of Minister of Defence and Finance.

Imelda R. Marcos (born Imelda Remedios Visitasion Romualdez on July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician and widow of 10th Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986. She is the first politician elected as member of the Philippine legislature in three geographical locations (Manila, Leyte, Ilocos Norte). In 2010, she was elected to become a member of the House of Representatives to represent Ilocos Norte's second district. She is sometimes referred to as the Steel Butterfly or the Iron Butterfly. She is often remembered for symbols of the extravagance of her husband's political reign, including her collection of 2,700 pairs of shoes.

Her paternal ancestors, the Lopezes of Leyte, were wealthy, landed and prominent, and claimed to have founded the town of Tolosa, Leyte. Spanish mestizos, the Lopezes were descended from the Spanish friar and silversmith Don Francisco Lopez, originally from Granada in the Andalusian region of Spain. Together with Fray Salustiano Buz, he arrived by way of Acapulco to build Roman Catholic missions in the island provinces of Samar and Leyte (Buz would establish his home base in Palapag, Samar, the exit-entry point of the Manila Galleons in the Visayas islands). It was common then for Spanish friars to take mistresses, and Lopez's life-long relationship with a Chinese mestiza, Maria Crisostomo y Talentin of Basey, Samar, produced seven children. The eldest of them was Trinidad Lopez, or Doña Tidad in later years.

Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel (born October 4, 1946) is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002. In 2009, he was elected as Chairman of the Atlantic Council.

Born in North Platte, Nebraska, to Betty Dunn Hagel and Charles Dean Hagel, who had German and Polish ancestry, he graduated from St. Bonaventure High School (now Scotus Central Catholic High School) in Columbus, Nebraska, the Brown Institute for Radio and Television in 1966 and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971. Hagel is a Vietnam War veteran, having served in the United States Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant (E-5) from 1967 – 1968. He served as an infantry squad leader in the 9th Infantry Division. While serving during the Vietnam War, Hagel received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.^{[citation needed]} After returning from Vietnam, he worked as a bartender and radio newscaster while finishing college.

Quentin Bryce, AC, CVO (born 23 December 1942) is the 25th and current Governor-General of Australia (the first woman to hold the position) and former Governor of Queensland.

Born in Brisbane, Queensland as Quentin Alice Louise Strachan, she spent her first years in Ilfracombe, with her family subsequently living in a number of country towns around Australia. She attended the University of Queensland, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws, becoming one of the first women accepted to the Queensland bar.

In 1968 she became the first woman to be a faculty member of the law school where she had studied, and in 1978 she joined the new National Women's Advisory Council. This was followed by a number of positions, including the first director of the Queensland Women's Information Service, the Queensland director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner in 1988. Her services to the community saw her appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988, and a Companion of the Order of Australia and Dame of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 2003. On 26 October 2011, The Queen of Australia invested Bryce as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) at Government House in Canberra.