[4] Botolan is known for its larger Aeta population, wide gray sand beaches, and as the location of Mount Pinatubo.

[1] Located just south of the provincial capital of Iba, Botolan has the largest land area of the municipalities in Zambales.

[21] Legend has it that before the arrival of the Spanish in the area sometime in the 17th century, local Aeta peoples had discovered a carved wooden statue on a large rock and began worshipping the image.

The Catholic image was canonically blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1985 at a ceremony in Vatican City.

[22] After the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo destroyed the original village of Poonbato, the patio image (which was found intact and buried chest-deep in lahar)[23] and its shrine were moved to the nearby resettlement area of Loob-Bunga.