Cabanatuan, Province of Nueva Ecija, Central Luzon Region, Philippines

🇵🇭 Cabanatuan City, officially the City of Cabanatuan is a 1st class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. It is the most populous city in Nueva Ecija and the fifth-most populous in Central Luzon. The city is popular for being home to more than 30,000 motorized tricycles, making it the "Tricycle Capital of the Philippines" and its strategic location along the Cagayan Valley Road has made the city a major economic, educational, medical, entertainment shopping and transportation centre in Nueva Ecija and nearby provinces in the region such as Aurora and Bulacan. It has also earned the moniker "Gateway to the North".

Cabanatuan remained Nueva Ecija's capital until 1965, when the government created 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.

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.

Economy Cabanatuan is the economic heart of Nueva Ecija. More than 640,000 people live in its metropolitan area comprising the city and its adjacent municipalities. As a hub, many people in Nueva Ecija commute to the city during the day. This causes the city's daytime population to swell to about a million. Although Cabanatuan does not have significant manufacturing industries, its dynamic service and agricultural sectors drive the economy forward.

The city is a vital financial centre housing a good number of banks, non-bank financial institutions, and headquarters of some of the largest rural banks in Central Luzon. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) maintains a branch in the city that performs cash operations and cash administration. As of June 2018, approximately 43 billion pesos in deposit liabilities is kept in the city's 65 banks. This amount constitutes more than half of the province's deposits. In terms of banking convenience, the city ranks as one of the most livable in the country together with Makati.

Water, Electricity, and Telecommunications Most of the water supply of the city is provided for by the Cabanatuan City Water District (CCWD), founded in 1974 through a resolution enacted by the Honorable City Council of Cabanatuan City, pursuant to PD 198. In recent years, the CCWD has entered into a JVA (Joint Venture Agreement) with PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation, a private water service provider delivering quality services in the design of water distribution systems. It continues to provide most of the city's water supply.

Unlike the majority of Nueva Ecija, most of the electric services in the city are provided by the Cabanatuan Electric Corporation (CELCOR). Power generation companies like FCVC and FCRV operate a 12-8 MW diesel power plant and a 10-MW solar power plant, respectively. Major telecommunication companies like Globe Telecom, PLDT-Smart Communications, and Sun Cellular have also their respective infrastructures and business offices in the city. Local TV and Radio Stations, such as the city's main local channel CabTV 16 and radio broadcast channel, Big Sound FM 101.5, are also present.

Automotive Industry The motor vehicle industry is a notable part of the city economy. Popular global automotive companies has established dealerships in the city's metropolitan area. Existing car/truck dealerships include Mitsubishi, Kia, Isuzu, Mazda, Ford, Nissan, Peugeot, Hyundai, Hyundai Trucks and Buses, Suzuki, and Mahindra, all in Cabanatuan; Toyota, Foton and Honda in Santa Rosa town; Chevrolet and Hino in San Leonardo town. Motorcycle dealerships are common like in most Philippine mid-sized cities.

Logistics and Distribution The city is also a distribution and logistics centre for goods and commodities; a number of distribution warehouses and sales offices of various companies serve the whole of Nueva Ecija and parts of neighboring provinces. The NFA warehouses in the city play an important role in regulating Nueva Ecija's burgeoning rice industry. The city acts as a trading place or bagsakan of agricultural produce from the surrounding farming communities.

Indicators reflect Cabanatuan's economic achievements in the past few years. Annual business registrations in the city grew 31.7% last 2015 while locally sourced taxes grew 14.81% annually in the five years to 2015. Residential buildings and subdivisions, numbering more than a hundred, are taking up lands on the fringes of the downtown.

Real Estate and Investment

The presence of big land developers such as Santa Lucia Realty, Vista Land, and Ayala Land ensures competition and quality in the new suburban homes. New commercial buildings are springing up in the CBD and along Maharlika Highway at an average of seventy-five per year.

Cabanatuan nowadays is gradually becoming a major investment hub and is considered one of the most competitive cities for doing business in the country. Investors in banking, real estate, retail and other business and industrial enterprises are similarly drawn to the city because of its adequate infrastructure and investor support services. Its continuing urbanization is also luring investors into its suburban municipalities as well.

To further explore its economic potentials, Cabanatuan is seeking to have a share of the IT-BPO boom. The first call centre in Nueva Ecija was successfully established in the city in 2008. The city government is providing prospective investors with fast business applications processing, low business taxes, and other incentives to attract big-ticket projects.

In 2015, the city's total assets amounted to PHP 3.719 billion and the total income reached PHP 1.696 billion.

Shopping Centers Cabanatuan City serves as a major shopping hub in the province and other nearby localities. Major Philippine mall chains such as Robinsons Malls, SM Supermalls, Walter Mart, and Puregold Price Club, Inc. have established their presence in the city. Currently, major shopping centres in the city include: NE Pacific Mall; SM Megacenter; Robinsons Townville Cabanatuan; SM City Cabanatuan which is built as a regional SM supermall with amenities such as a roof park, an indoor park, and a large-screen cinema; AllHome, and Waltermart. Cabanatuan has also multiple grocery and department stores including a chain of Savemore Supermarkets, Puregold Supermarkets, NE Supermarkets, and the warehouse club store, S&R. The city has also numerous hardware centres like Ace Hardware, Citi Hardware, and Wilcon Depot.

In terms of future developments, Robinsons Land Corp. expressed plans for their second mall in the city. Cabanatuan is also building a new main public market that is set to open on December 2023, after its old public market burnt down in April 2020. In the meantime, a temporary public market will be established in Brgy. Kapitan Pepe. It will soon be converted into the city's convention center. The government will also be building more modernised public markets in the city's primary thoroughfares like Barangay Sangitan.

Hotels and Restaurants The city has numerous accommodation and lodging establishments such as hotels, motels, inns, and resorts. In recent years, the local food scene in the city has experienced growth. Several restaurants, fast-food chains like Jollibee, McDonald's, and KFC, bars, coffee shops, and nightclubs are also located in the city. The local food scene offers a variety of culinary choices such as local delicacies, Japanese cuisine, and Korean cuisine. Food joints have also been established in Kapitan Pepe Subdivision, such as Banatu Box Food Park, which is billed as one of the city's top food destinations.

Tourist Industry Historical sites found in the city include: • Cabanatuan Railroad Station is found in Barangay General Luna. It was built in early 1927 as the terminus of the now-abandoned Balagtas-Cabanatuan line. The building has since been converted into a barangay civic centre and day care centre, with the original structure preserved. • Camp Pangatian (Prisoner of War Memorial Shrine) (Now Cabanatuan American Memorial), began as a military training camp for twenty years until converted into a concentration camp for allied prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation. A popular tourist destination among war veterans by way of the WWII Veteran's Homecoming Program. Camp Pangatian's liberation of World War II American prisoners of war held by the Japanese forces in January 1945 was the most successful rescue operation ever executed by the American military aided by the Filipino guerillas who were fighting the invaders. That tactical operation was immortalized in the movie The Great Raid. • Freedom Park is a provincial park located in front of the Old Provincial Capitol of Nueva Ecija, civic spaces as well as various monuments and memorials can be found inside the park which includes a monument dedicated to General Antonio Luna who was assassinated in the nearby Cathedral of San Nicolas de Tolentino. • Gen. Antonio Luna Statue and Marker in found in Plaza Lucero. This statue of Philippine hero General Antonio Luna astride a horse stands at the plaza in front of the cathedral on the exact spot where the brave general was assassinated in 1899 in the city that adopted him subsequently. In May 2022, alongside Plaza Lucero, the statue was renovated and re-opened to the public. • Old Provincial Capitol of Nueva Ecija is located along Burgos Avenue. The old provincial capitol was designed by prominent American architect William E. Parsons who also designed government buildings in Manila, Cebu and Laguna during the American Colonial Period. The old edifice has since been renovated and expanded.

Festivals and celebrations: • Banatu Festival celebrates its founding anniversary as a chartered city. From its humble beginning in 2015, "Banatu Festival" aims to showcase the history, culture, talent, beauty and craftsmanship of Cabanatueños. • Longganisa Festival one of the activities in "Banatu Festival" and is held in the vicinity of the public market along Paco Roman Street. Apart from the local meat traders and customers, tourists from nearby towns also join the celebration. Highlights of this festival are the cooking contests and the different preparations for longganisa (native sausage like "batutay", "longganisang bawang" and "longganisang matamis"), including spaghetti and “binagoongan”.