Once called “Bulak” due to its abundant kapok trees—a tropical tree producing a pod that contains Java cotton as its ‘fruit’, and got its women inhabitants become “comfort women” for the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the year 1942, the San Ildefonso or the Municipality of San Ildefonso of the Bulacan Province, Philippines, is a 1st class municipality that is now the northernmost part of Metro Manila.

The San Ildefonso’s most famous attraction is the Bahay na Pula, a former hacienda in which the Japanese soldiers confiscated and used as barracks, making the Municipality of San Ildefonso an important piece of history. There’s also a nature reserve that’s surprisingly untouched by quarry operations, the Malangaan Spring. A gigantic cave where nearly thousands of fruit bats live, the Bahay Paniki Cave can also be found in the territory.

There’s much too see and much to visit, bring your families and friends to one of the most naturally beautiful towns of the Philippines!