Anyone who has entered an old house, especially a well-preserved ancestral home, can compare the experience to visiting a museum. As one observes a piece of furniture, a painting adorning the wall, or an eye-catching design detail, including the very architecture itself, a rich narrative unfolds—one that stretches across decades and, in certain instances, even a century.

Malolos Heritage Town in Bulacan is one of the most historically significant destinations in the Philippines. Home to Barasoain Church, the Kamestisuhan District, the Malolos Cathedral and dozens of ancestral houses, the city served as the capital of the First Philippine Republic and remains one of the country's finest heritage destinations. Growing up in a time when a ten-peso bill was enough to buy me a bowl of arroz caldo and a bottle of soda, I always found myself being reminded of the historic significance of Malolos’s Barasoain Church, whose image was printed on one side of the currency. Coined from the term baras ng suwail, meaning “dungeon of the defiant,” the walls and four corners of this church were once the rendezvous point of anti-colonial Ilustrados.

Conversely, as history is told in a myriad of ways, it is also forgotten in innumerable ways. Eventually, the story of Malolos took a backseat among other places of historic importance across the country.