Cabanatuan and Palayan Cities, and Nueva Ecija Province

[allan_dude]

Nueva Ecija is the largest province and the biggest rice producer of Central Luzon, thus, often referred to as the “Rice Bowl of the Philippines.” Its capital is Palayan City. Nueva Ecija borders, from the south clockwise, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, and Aurora.

Among its main attractions is the Pantabangan River, the country’s first multi-purpose infrastructure, which stands today as a phenomenon in Filipino engineering feats. Another is the Pampanga river, cutting across a rich valley floor, famed for irrigation, the generation of hydroelectric power, and the mitigation of flood damage.

Nueva Ecija is also the agri-tourism pilot site in Central Luzon due to the presence of the Central Luzon State University in the province.

Its other worthwhile attractions include the Minalungao National Park, Rizal Hot Spring, Burburayok Springs and Pajanutic Falls, Barrio Puncan in the town of Carranglan, among others.

HISTORY

In 1705, Spanish Governor General Fausto Cruzar created the province and named it Nueva Ecija after his hometown Ecija in Seville, Spain.

In 1818, Nueva Ecija annexed a long strip of territory facing the Pacific Ocean in the east that extended from Palawan (now in Isabela) in the north to Infanta in Tayabas (now Quezon) in the south. In 1848, it acquired the towns of Gapan, San Isidro, Cabiao. San Antonio and Casiguran were separated from Nueva Ecija and annexed to Tayabas. Palanan was transferred first to Nueva Ecija then to Isabela. With the subsequent separation of Infanta and Polilio Island, Nueva Ecija’s isolation from the sea became complete.

Nueva Ecija was one of the first eight provinces that took up arms against Spanish rule in 1896. During the Filipino-American War, General Emilio Aguinaldo retreated to the province and, on May 9, 1899, made Cabanatuan the temporary seat of his government until it was moved to Bamban, Tarlac. General Antonio Luna was killed on June 5, 1899 in the convent of the town’s church.

American forces, after occupying Nueva Ecija in 1899, established the provincial seat of government in San Isidro. Other provincial capitals had been Baler (now in Aurora), Bongabon, and Cabanatuan. On June 19,1965, Republic Act No. 4475 created the city of Palayan as the new capital.

GEOGRAPHY

The province is the largest in Central Luzon. Its terrain begins with the southwestern marshes near the Pampanga border. It levels off and then gradually increases in elevation to rolling hills as it approaches the mountains of Sierra Madre in the east, and the Caraballo and Cordillera ranges in the north.

POPULATION

According to the NCSO, Nueva Ecija has a population of 1,310,829 of which 13.16% are concentrated in Cabanatuan City. The rural population totals 799,280 while the urban population is 511,549.
Tagalog is predominantly spoken by the Novo Ecijanos, comprising 67.7%, followed by the Ilocano dialect at 29.93%. Other dialects are Pampango, Pangasinan, Bicol, and Ilonggo.

ECONOMY

Nueva Ecija is one of the top producers of agricultural goods in the country. Its principal crops are rice, corn, and onion. The province is often referred to as the “Rice Bowl of the Philippines.” Other major crops are mango, banana, eggplant, and garlic.

Fishponds are unevenly distributed throughout the province but the largest concentrations are in San Antonio, Sta. Rosa, and Cuyapo.

Several areas have mineral deposits. Copper and manganese have been found in Gen. Tinio, Carranglan, and Patabangan. The upper reaches of Carranglan and Palyan are said to contain gold.

Map:

Cities

• Cabanatuan City
• Gapan City
• Palayan City
• San Jose City
• Science City of Muñoz

Municipalities

• Aliaga
• Bongabon
• Cabiao
• Carranglan
• Cuyapo
• Gabaldon (Bitulok & Sabani)
• General Mamerto Natividad
• General Tinio (Papaya)
• Guimba
• Jaén
• Laur
• Licab
• Llanera
• Lupao

• Nampicuan
• Pantabangan
• Peñaranda
• Quezon
• Rizal
• San Antonio
• San Isidro
• San Leonardo
• Santa Rosa
• Santo Domingo
• Talavera
• Talugtug
• Zaragoza

Text source: wikipedia, DOT

ABOVE: Photo credits (L-R)
Flickr.com photos by Shubert Ciencia, DOT Region III & jaydigital

Flickr Finds

Cabanatuan
Flickr photo by R. Refran


Pantabangan Dam
Flickr photo by DOT Region III


Nueva Ecija Sports Complex
Flickr photo by DOT Region III


NE Pacific Mall
Flickr photo by DOT Region III

Sprawling over a 5-hectare prime property along Maharlika Highway in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, NE Pacific Mall is the first fully-integrated shopping center to rise in the central plains of Luzon.

NE Pacific Mall boasts of a combination of the finest elements of Metro Manila's bustling commercial hubs: a warehouse supermarket, a department store, mall shops, a family amusement center, a sit-down fastfood center, over 250 cluster stalls, state of the art cinemas, and a Brunswick-megged, 14-lane fully-computerized bowling center. (LANDCO)


Click image to enlarge

[tracymack]

Nice one allan_dude. Do we have something like this in the Pangasinan thread? I didn't know NE Pacific sits on just a 5 hectare lot. The SM Supercenter Rosales lot is 9 hectares, SM City Urdaneta at 15 hectares & SM City Dagupan at 14 hectares. The NE Pacific Mall at 5 hectares is already huge.

[tracymack]

Is the traffic along Maharlika Highway bad? Judging from the pic, it only has two lanes. MacArthur Highway in Urdaneta City is also two-lane but a lot of motorists treat it like a four-lane road. That's how bad traffic is back home. That is why it is being widened into four lanes (which motorists can then treat as six lanes ). Because of road widening activities, traffic has become even worse. I wonder if Cabanatuan City is experiencing the same thing. I guess officials did not expect Urdaneta to grow at a very fast pace.

[allan_dude]

None. Maybe we could request our moderators to help us add a "thread starter" in our local thread.

Traffic situation in Cabanatuan is pretty bad. One time we were on our way to San Jose and were caught in a traffic jam, It took us almost an hour just to cross the city.

This province is very unrepresented here in SSC considering it has five cities, it is the center for agri-business and agri-technology in the Phil, and is a part of the "Billionaires Club" in terms of IRA. Anyone from Nueva Ecija? Please post away here!

[tracymack]

Originally Posted by allan_dude

None. Maybe we could request our moderators to help us add a "thread starter" in our local thread.

That's a good idea!

Originally Posted by allan_dude

Traffic situation in Cabanatuan is pretty bad. One time we were on our way to San Jose and were caught in a traffic jam, It took us almost an hour just to cross the city.

Worse than Urdaneta? So Maharlika Highway has only two lanes?

Originally Posted by allan_dude

This province is very unrepresented here in SSC considering it has five cities, it is the center for agri-business and agri-technology in the Phil, and is a part of the "Billionaires Club" in terms of IRA. Anyone from Nueva Ecija? Please post away here!

Yeah. Start posting people!

[r93k401]

Hot springs in Rizal, Nueva Ecija. Where is that.... I grew up in Rizal when I was in elementary but my family moved out when I was in high school.. never knew there is one there..

[allan_dude]

Originally Posted by tracymack

Worse than Urdaneta? So Maharlika Highway has only two lanes?

Hmm I haven't experienced the infamous Urdaneta traffic. Maharlika is like MacArthur Highway, at one part there are two lanes each per direction.

[allan_dude]

Cabanatuan City
Courtesy of Nueva Ecija Journal
Digital photos by Ramon R. Valmonte



Cabanatuan City Central Transport Terminal


Part of Maharlika Road fronting the National Food Authority Compound


Primavera townhouses


Lakewood City


Maria Assumpta Seminary


NE Pacific Mall


Megacenter


NE Mall


Dr. Jose Rizal's monument


Ninoy Aquino Freedom Park


Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Medical and Research Center,


Nueva Ecija Doctors Hospital


Iglesia ni Cristo Cathedral.








Wesleyan University-Philippine


Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology


Nueva Ecija National High School


College of the Immaculate Conception High School Department

[barrera_marquez]

Palayan City as we know is a sleepy city. People even argue if it is really a city but do we have a city seal for Palayan City? I have never seen one. Thanks.

[tracymack]

Originally Posted by allan_dude

Hmm I haven't experienced the infamous Urdaneta traffic. Maharlika is like MacArthur Highway, at one part there are two lanes each per direction.

I see. Thanks for the info allan_dude. Hope you don't get to experience THE traffic.

[bariQ]

wow may NE thread na pala

may town ba na baloc sa NE?

[tracymack]

Originally Posted by barrera_marquez

Palayan City as we know is a sleepy city. People even argue if it is really a city but do we have a city seal for Palayan City? I have never seen one. Thanks.

Really? It's the capital of NE right? I guess Palayan shares the same thing with Trece Martirez City, the capital of Cavite. It's more like a town and the reason people flock this city is that it's home to provincial government offices. There's nothing wrong with it though. Maybe government officials prefer a more laid back environment.

[barrera_marquez]

Originally Posted by tracymack

Really? It's the capital of NE right? I guess Palayan shares the same thing with Trece Martirez City, the capital of Cavite. It's more like a town and the reason people flock this city is that it's home to provincial government offices. There's nothing wrong with it though. Maybe government officials prefer a more laid back environment.

Yes. I am searching for it via the Internet and nothing showed. I was searching for almost an hour. Palayan City is very far and returning to one of my hometowns just to get one is a waste of money. Hey, the fare to Palayan City is almost P200 one way! Sometimes buses even refuse to to go there. You know the Cabanatuan Central Terminal, all buses converge there but if you're going to Palayan City, you must take a jeep which charges you P17 to go there. I only know one bus company that has the courage to go there- 5 Star. That is why I seldom go to Nueva Ecija because not of the distance but because there are not many buses plying there. Just like a ghost town- call it "Palayanphobia."

It just goes only like this: Palayan City is the brain since the government of the province is in that city but the heart of Nueva Ecija is in Cabanatuan City since the city generates most of the income for the province. Once Cabanatuan City stops, the entire Nueva Ecija including Palayan City will be doomed.

With the comparison to Trece Martirez City, the situation in Palayan City is worse. We have only 30,000 people living here. Search for Palayan City in Google Earth and you will not see buildings but farms instead. I am not against Palayan City's cityhood but I do not want any more Palayan Cities again.

[tracymack]

I hear you. I'm not sure what the requirements are for a town to be eligible to be upgraded to a city but I personally think this should be revisited. A lot of so called "cities" have be popping up all over the place but if you visit these places you might end up wondering how they got to city status. I would think that population, income, infrastructure, employment opportunities, presence of educational institutions & commercial establishments.. I can go on but these definitely are and should be taken into consideration. Is the status quo for qualifying towns too low? Maybe the bar needs to be raised.

As for Palayan City, maybe officials saw that it had potential of some sort that's why they opted to have it as NE's capital. I don't know for sure because I've never been there.

[barrera_marquez]

Originally Posted by tracymack

I hear you. I'm not sure what the requirements are for a town to be eligible to be upgraded to a city but I personally think this should be revisited. A lot of so called "cities" have be popping up all over the place but if you visit these places you might end up wondering how they got to city status. I would think that population, income, infrastructure, employment opportunities, presence of educational institutions & commercial establishments.. I can go on but these definitely are and should be taken into consideration. Is the status quo for qualifying towns too low? Maybe the bar needs to be raised.

As for Palayan City, maybe officials saw that it had potential of some sort that's why they opted to have it as NE's capital. I don't know for sure because I've never been there.

There are only a few things that are needed to develop this into a real city. Meaning, they should these things to boost development.

• Government Service- are there enough police stations for the city? Are there fire stations and hospitals for the city? If there are not, my goodness! How does this place become a city without all those things? Don't expect development, they will really never come without those.
• Infrastructure- all buses and almost all roads in Nueva Ecija lead to Cabanatuan City, not Palayan City, they should invest more here. I remember my journey there- it will not just cost me almost P200 but also four hours from San Fernando City alone! Build a good road network from Palayan City to other cities/municipalities in Nueva Ecija.
• Reduce agricultural zoning- the fact that a city should be in a high population, the city's agricultural zoning could be reduced. Why? There are many farms there! Not houses, not buildings, not everything, just plain farms or if your lucky, a good road but some roads within the city in poor condition. Look at the picture of the Nueva Ecija capitol building in Palayan City, it doesn't have buildings nearby! Increase residential, industrial and commercial zoning here! This situation is worse than Santa Cruz, Laguna actually folks!
• Communications- do I have anything more to say? The communications are better in Cabanatuan City, not Palayan City.
  
  If those conditions were not met, better transfer the Nueva Ecija capitol from Palayan City to Cabanatuan City! Cabanatuan City looks more like the capital city of Nueva Ecija!

[tracymack]

I'm sorry you feel that way about Palayan. I hope things (development-wise) get better soon.

[barrera_marquez]

Originally Posted by tracymack

I'm sorry you feel that way about Palayan. I hope things (development-wise) get better soon.

Too bad it is my hometown. How come my hometown became like that? Even Kalibo is better, Kalibo looks like a city now but still a municipality. But this thing, a "city" but looks more like a village, not even a municipality. My God! Can't the development be done right here? Even Gapan City and Munoz City is better and yet they only became cities during the years 2000-2001, classified as Nueva Ecija's newest cities.

Anyway, I heard a road is going to be constructed here in Nueva Ecija to Aurora. If you can make it an expressway and then make it pass on to Palayan City, then the development can begin there. Remember, the people are aware that this is the Nueva Ecija capital and that might kick-start development.

Now I know why Palayan City is called Palayan City- it is a "city" full of palayans (rice fields).

Hey wait, Palayan City is created as a city in 1965. What does Palayan City look then? I'll bet it's worse.

Tracymark, during year 2000-2001, I am not sure, the bars for cityhood requirements have been raised already but those "cities" managed to be cities because of grant of exemptions for the requirements. This is the problem of Ilagan, Isabela which has failed cityhood because of plebiscite in 1998. They cannot meet the P100M income requirement. But Kalibo, a municipality that looks like a city has undergone several plebiscites for cityhood but I guess the people of Kalibo didn't want to pay higher taxes so they always decline it.

[tracymack]

Exemptions? Really? That's twisted. Totally unfair. Why award cityhood status to undeserving towns? IMO, cityhood has to be earned.

By the way, it's tracymack.

[tracymack]

Originally Posted by barrera_marquez

Tracymark, during year 2000-2001, I am not sure, the bars for cityhood requirements have been raised already but those "cities" managed to be cities because of grant of exemptions for the requirements. This is the problem of Ilagan, Isabela which has failed cityhood because of plebiscite in 1998. They cannot meet the P100M income requirement. But Kalibo, a municipality that looks like a city has undergone several plebiscites for cityhood but I guess the people of Kalibo didn't want to pay higher taxes so they always decline it.

That is one thing that has to be considered. The income classification of residents. Officials need to be certain their residents can indeed afford city life before pushing for cityhood.

[barrera_marquez]

Originally Posted by tracymack

That is one thing that has to be considered. The income classification of residents. Officials need to be certain their residents can indeed afford city life before pushing for cityhood.

Not really, one thing needed here is the income of the municipality. If the municipal income is high enough, then there won't be any tax increases when it becomes a city. Right?

Exemptions? Really? That's twisted. Totally unfair. Why award cityhood status to undeserving towns? IMO, cityhood has to be earned.

Check out the Why there are so many "cities" thread, the debate there about those so-called "cities" is doing well. I suggest you to check it out to see it.

If you want to see those pesky exemptions, take a load of this:
http://city-ph.com/news/city-mayors-...-for-filipinos

Thanks for correction, tracymack.