Cabanatuan


Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan, is a first-class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines.
According to the, it has a population of people, making it the most populous in Nueva Ecija, seventh in the whole of Luzon outside the Greater Manila Area, and the largest city north of Metro Manila along the Pan-Philippine Highway. It has earned the moniker "Gateway to the North."
The city is known for being home to more than 30,000 motorized tricycles, making it the "Tricycle Capital of the Philippines." Its strategic location along the Cagayan Valley Road has helped make the city into the major economic, educational, medical, entertainment, shopping, and transportation center it is today. It is the commercial center for Nueva Ecija and nearby provinces in the region such as Tarlac, Aurora, and Bulacan.
Cabanatuan remained Nueva Ecija's capital until 1965 when the government recognized nearby Palayan City as the new provincial capital. Nueva Ecija's old capitol and other government offices are still used and maintained by the provincial administration. Cabanatuan also briefly became the capital of the Philippines during the First Philippine Republic while President Emilio Aguinaldo was moving north to evade capture by American forces.
After the campaign for the city's designation as a highly urbanized city failed, a motion was made to convert the city into a lone district instead.

History

Cabanatuan was founded as a Barrio of Gapan in 1750 and became a municipality and capital of La Provincia de Nueva Ecija in 1780. Majority of the original settlers of Cabanatuan were Tagalogs from Bulacan and Morong ; other early settlers came from Ilocos, Pampanga and Tayabas. The Tagalogs settled the barrios on the western part while Kapampangans and Ilocanos settled in the vicinity around Sangitan.
Cabanatuan is the site of the historical "Plaza Lucero" and the Cabanatuan Cathedral, where General Antonio Luna was assassinated by Captain Pedro Janolino and members of the Kawit battalion. Cabanatuan lost the title of provincial capital in 1850 when the capital of Nueva Ecija was moved to San Isidro, another historic town. It was only in 1917, when the administrative code was enacted, that Cabanatuan was restored as capital of the province. In 1926, the historic College of the Immaculate Conception was established within the vicinity of the Cabanatuan Cathedral by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1938, Ling Hong Temple, the second oldest Buddhist temple in the Philippines, was established in Cabanatuan.
During World War II, the occupying Japanese built the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where many American soldiers were imprisoned, some of whom had been forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March. In January 1945, elements of the U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion and two teams of Alamo Scouts marched behind enemy lines to rescue the prisoners in what became known as the Raid at Cabanatuan. As a result of the raid on January 30, 1945, victorious Filipino guerrillas, American troops of the U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion and Alamo Scouts celebrated having obtained the freedom of 500 American prisoners of war. Soon thereafter, Philippine and American forces re-established the presence of military general headquarters and military camp bases of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary 2nd Constabulary Regiment, and the United States Army in Cabanatuan from February 1, 1945, to June 30, 1946, during the Liberation of the Philippines. Before long, the combined Philippine Commonwealth and American armed forces, in cooperation with local guerrilla resistance fighters and Hukbalahap Communist guerrillas, had liberated Central Luzon from Japanese Imperial forces, a campaign that lasted from January until August 1945.
In 1957, the barrios of Mataas na Kahoy, Balangkare Norte, Balangkare Sur, Sapang Kawayan, Magasawang Sampaloc, Talabutab Norte, Talabutab Sur, Platero, Belen, Pecaleon, Piñahan, Kabulihan, Pasong-Hari, Balaring, Pulong Singkamas, Panaksak, Bravo, Sapang Bato, Burol, Miller, Tila Patio, Pula, Carinay, and Acacia were separated from Cabanatuan and constituted into a separate and independent municipality known as General Mamerto Natividad.

1990 Luzon earthquake

Cabanatuan was near the epicenter of the 1990 Luzon earthquake, which registered a 7.8 on the surface wave magnitude scale, at around 3:00 pm on July 16, 1990. The quake leveled several buildings, most notably the Christian College of the Philippines in the midst of class time, trapping 250 students and teachers and killing at least 133.
Unlike in Baguio, local and international journalists were able to arrive at Cabanatuan hours after the tremor, and media coverage of the quake in its immediate aftermath centered on the collapsed school, where rescue efforts were hampered by the lack of heavy equipment to cut through the steel reinforcement of fallen concrete.

Cityhood

Cabanatuan became a city by virtue of Republic Act No. 526, approved on June 16, 1950. In 1965, Congress created Palayan City, and transferred the capital of Nueva Ecija from Cabanatuan to the newly created city of Palayan.

Highly Urbanized City (HUC)

In 1998, Cabanatuan was declared a highly urbanized city by President Fidel V. Ramos. However, it failed ratification after the majority of votes in the plebiscite was negative.
Cabanatuan was declared as a highly urbanized city again by President Benigno S. Aquino III under Presidential Proclamation No. 418 on July 14, 2012. A plebiscite scheduled in December 2012 was moved by the Commission on Elections to January 25, 2014, so as not to burden the poll body during its preparation for the 2013 local elections in the province. Incumbent Governor Aurelio Matias Umali, who had a strong voter base in the city, opposed the conversion and submitted a petition to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on January 24, 2014. On April 23, 2014, voting 9–5–1, the Supreme Court granted a petition for certiorari filed by Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali and declared as null and void Comelec Minute Resolution No. 12-0797 dated September 11, 2012, and Minute Resolution No. 12-0925 dated October 16, 2012, setting a date for the conduct of a plebiscite in which only registered voters of Cabanatuan would be allowed to vote. The province-wide plebiscite was rescheduled for November 8, 2014, but cancelled again because the Cabanatuan City government could not provide the necessary funds. No new date is to be set until the city government certifies that 101 million is available for the holding of the plebiscite.

Geography

Cabanatuan is located in the rolling central plains of Luzon drained by the Pampanga River. The city stands southwest of the provincial capital Palayan City and north of Manila. It is bordered by Santa Rosa to the south, Talavera and Gen. Mamerto Natividad to the north, Palayan to the north east, Laur to the east, and Aliaga to the west.

Climate and natural disasters

Cabanatuan has a tropical wet and dry climate, with year-round warm weather and distinct dry and wet seasons. It is touted as one of the hottest cities in the country; in the summer season of 2011 Cabanatuan reached its hottest temperature at 39.8 °C, also the hottest in the Philippines in that same year, and on June 4, 2015 PAGASA reported a heat index for the city, which is the hottest yet recorded.
According to the fifth Annual Natural Hazards Risk Atlas report in 2015, Cabanatuan was ranked as the sixth city in the Philippines with extreme exposure to a myriad of natural hazards, especially typhoons and flooding.
Notable disasters have struck Cabanatuan in the past decades, including the 1990 Luzon earthquake, 2013 Typhoon Santi, and 2015 Typhoon Lando. The 2013 Typhoon Santi brought extreme winds measuring up to 120 km/h, causing widespread infrastructure damages and power loss to the city.
Later in 2015, Typhoon Lando caused massive damage in the form of severe flooding in Central Luzon, including Cabanatuan. The city experienced severe flooding, which hampered the operations of many establishments. Most roads going to the major districts of Cabanatuan were not passable to light vehicles for two to three days after the storm.
Recently in 2022, Typhoon Karding damaged numerous establishments, farmlands, and electric lines in the city.

Barangays

Cabanatuan is administratively subdivided into 89 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
BarangayPopulation Population
Aduas Centro 5,1165,116
Aduas Norte5,5465,755
Aduas Sur6,7457,640
Bagong Sikat4,5995,272
Bagong Buhay852934
Bakero3,0733,359
Bakod Bayan7,6599,981
Balite2,1412,307
Bangad7,5967,688
Bantug Bulalo2,3902,009
Bantug Norte8,6958,686
Barlis2,0662,258
Barrera District 5,3745,290
Bernardo District 1,2331,144
Bitas5,7795,513
Bonifacio District 2,9173,041
Buliran3,3223,461
Cabu4,0545,182
Caudillo1,6141,920
Calawagan 1,7571,836
Caalibangbangan11,11211,104
Camp Tinio 11,44911,917
Caridad Village1,8851,905
Cinco-Cinco1,8162,163
City Supermarket/Bayan 17295
Communal1,4511,791
Cruz Roja4,1455,354
Daan Sarile7,1918,030
Dalampang2,0572,202
Dicarma 4,4804,344
Dimasalang 1,4211,281
Dionisio S. Garcia 7,0767,405
Fatima 886777
General Luna 1,5481,516
Hermogenes C. Concepcion Sr. 4,0394,756
Ibabao-Bana2,3132,662
Imelda District4,0013,639
Isla 2,0812,340
Kalikid Norte3,3443,585
Kalikid Sur5,0566,210
Kapitan Pepe Subdivision 4,4254,795
Lagare2,3662,715
Lourdes 2,4572,478
M.S. Garcia4,6706,148
Mabini Extension3,3143,208
Mabini Homesite4,3175,501
Macatbong3,3783,623
Magsaysay District4,4924,242
Magsaysay South2,8002,419
Maria Theresa930969
Matadero 1,1231,010
Mayapyap Norte2,2882,750
Mayapyap Sur5,4735,904
Melojavilla 654387
Nabao 730703
Obrero4,3614,360
Padre Burgos 324328
Padre Crisostomo4,0184,298
Pagas2,9973,261
Palagay2,2212,648
Pamaldan3,8704,203
Pangatian2,8153,290
Patalac2,3492,417
Polilio2,6052,913
Pula1,7081,306
Quezon District 1,9491,648
Rizdelis 789784
Samon1,7131,806
San Isidro4,9966,277
San Josef Norte4,4424,684
San Josef Sur6,7937,785
San Juan Accfa 6,6878,772
San Roque Norte1,128944
San Roque Sur1,3561,314
Sanbermicristi 1,3311,298
Sangitan2,0151,566
Sangitan East2,0501,531
Santa Arcadia4,5985,751
Santo Niño1,8071,946
Sapang1,3821,590
Sumacab Este4,1184,517
Sumacab Norte4,6984,869
Sumacab South4,4875,776
Talipapa1,7962,498
Valdefuente4,3214,216
Valle Cruz4,8566,503
Vijandre District 1,3761,096
Villa Ofelia Subdivision 1,3191,315
Zuleta District 1,5581,495