Cabanatuan, city, northern Philippines, on Luzon Island, in Nueva Ecija Province, on the Pampanga River. Cabanatuan is near Manila, with which it is connected by railroad. Cabanatuan is one of the chief centers of trade in the province, and rice milling is the principal industry. During World War II (1939-1945) a Japanese prison camp for Americans and Filipinos captured at Bataan and Corregidor was located in Cabanatuan. Population (1999 estimate) 219,055.
