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Cabanatuan Nueva Ecija Philippines
Cabanatuan Memorial of the POW Camp
Brief History of Cabanatuan City
Cabanatuan was founded as Barrio of Gapan in 1750 and became a
Municipality and capital of La Provincia de Nueva Ecija in 1780. In 1899, Emilio
Aguinaldo moved the Capital of the First Philippine Republic from Malolos to
Cabanatuan. Cabanatuan is the site of the historical "Plaza Lucero"
and the Cabanatuan Cathedral, where General Gregorio del Pilar was
ambushed on his way to Palanan. Cabanatuan lost the title of 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. However, in 1965,
Congress created Palayan City, which has been the capital ever since.
Cabanatuan was declared a Highly Urbanized City in 1998.
During World War II, the occupying Japanese built 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 US
Army marched far behind enemy lines to rescue the prisoners in what became known
as the Raid at Cabanatuan.
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Gen Luna Statue and Marker.
A 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.
Camp Pangatian.
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
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