Current Time in Cabanatuan City, Philippines

Cabanatuan City is an inland city in the province of Nueva Ecija on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It stands on the broad, flat plain of Central Luzon beside the Pampanga River, about 110 kilometres north of Manila, with the Sierra Madre visible to the east and the Caraballo Mountains to the north. The surrounding countryside is an almost unbroken expanse of rice fields.

The city has a population of around three hundred and thirty thousand and is the largest urban centre in a province known as the rice granary of the Philippines. Its role is commercial: it is the market, banking, transport and services hub for the whole of eastern Central Luzon, where the harvest is traded, milled and shipped onward. It is also famous throughout the country as the tricycle capital of the Philippines, with tens of thousands of the motorcycle sidecars filling its streets.

Founded in the eighteenth century, the town grew as a Spanish administrative centre and briefly served as the capital of the First Philippine Republic in 1899. It was in Cabanatuan that General Antonio Luna, the republic's most capable military commander, was assassinated in June of that year, an event that still marks the city's identity. During the Second World War the Japanese army operated a large prisoner of war camp nearby, holding survivors of the Bataan Death March. In January 1945 American Rangers and Filipino guerrillas carried out a celebrated raid on the camp, freeing more than five hundred prisoners in one of the most successful rescue operations in military history.

The main historic sites relate to these events. The Cabanatuan American Memorial marks the camp site and lists the names of those who died there, and the Plaza Lucero and the church where Luna was killed are preserved in the old centre. The Freedom Park, the provincial capitol complex in nearby Palayan and the riverside promenade are used for civic events. Further afield, Minalungao National Park with its limestone cliffs and green river, and the vast Pantabangan Dam and reservoir, are the most popular excursions.

Cultural life follows the agricultural year. The Taong Putik festival in nearby Bibiclat, where devotees cover themselves in mud and dry banana leaves, is one of the most striking religious traditions in the country, and Cabanatuan's own town fiesta and harvest celebrations bring processions, street dancing and food fairs. Malls, night markets and a lively food scene built around Filipino grilled dishes and sweets serve a young population.

Transport centres on the road network, with the Cagayan Valley Road linking the city to Manila and the north, and a busy network of bus and jeepney terminals. There is no commercial airport in the city, with Clark International Airport serving the region.

Education is strong, led by the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Wesleyan University Philippines and several colleges, with Central Luzon State University a short distance away.

Cabanatuan is important as the beating commercial heart of the Philippine rice belt, a city defined by farming, movement and a memorable wartime history.