"There Is More To Los Banos Than Hot... " a Los Banos Travel Page by cyndymc

Former President Ferdinand Marcos declared Los Banos, a first class municipality as "A Special University Zone", by virtue of Presidential Letter of Instruction No. 883 granted on 15 June 1982.

Los Banos is home to the University of the Philippines, Los Baņos (UPLB ), a public university that offers over a hundred degree programs and the International Rice Research Institute.

Los Baņos was further declared as an "Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences Community" on March 17, 1982 by virtue of Executive Order No. 784 (Section 23). Los Baņos was declared as a "Special Science and Nature City of the Philippines" on August 7, 2000 through Presidential Proclamation No. 349 in recognition as a center for science and technology in the development of agriculture and preservation of the environment.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Ba%C31os,_Laguna

The National Arts Center located in Mount Makiling was established in 1976 by First Lady Imelda Marcos as a haven for young and aspiring artists. The Philippine High School for the Arts, a government-run secondary educational institution for gifted young artists and the Tanghalang Maria Makiling are among the various buildings and facilities scattered over 13.5 hectares of the Makiling Forest Reservation.