Canlaon, officially the City of Canlaon (; ; ), is a 4th class component city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 58,822 people. It is located north from the provincial capital Dumaguete and is bordered on the east by Vallehermoso and on the south by Guihulngan. Canlaon is home to the highest peak in its own province and its corresponding island, Kanlaon Volcano, which is above sea level at its highest point. The Banyan Tree (also known as the Century Tree; Balete Tree; Millennium Tree) inside the OISCA Farm is estimated by botanists from Silliman University to be around 1,300 years old. It is home to lizards, bats, and a variety of insects. It may be considered as Canlaon City's main tourist attraction. History Canlaon was formerly a part of Vallehermoso as Sitio Mabigo of Barrio Panubigan. In 1941, Isidoro Bautista Sr., a geodetic engineer, along with its residents petitioned the Philippine government to convert Mabigo into a separate municipality. World War II During the Second World War, the Japanese Imperial Army captured Canlaon City on April 10, 1942, right after the Battle of Bataan. The Japanese occupation of the city ended in early 1945 when soldiers from the Eighth United States Army under Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger including the 40th Infantry Division (United States) and the 23rd Infantry Division (United States), landed in Negros Island to drive out the Japanese. On liberating Negros Island, they were assisted by newly formed Philippine Commonwealth Military Forces and local Negrense guerillas who helped in clearing out Japanese pockets of resistance throughout the island. In fact, the honor of liberating Canlaon City from the Japanese went to Philippine Commonwealth soldiers belonging to the 7th, 71st, 73rd and 75th Infantry Regiments of the Philippine Army, the 7th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary and Negrense guerillas. Post-World War II Creation as a municipality On October 11, 1946, President Manuel Roxas signed Executive Order no. 19, creating the municipality of Canlaon consists of two barrios (Mabigo and Panubigan) and nine sitios. It was inaugurated on January 1, 1947. Isidoro Bautista Sr. became its first municipal mayor. Cityhood Lorenzo Teves, congressman of the first district of Negros Oriental, filed House Bill 4346, regarding the conversion of Canlaon into a city. The bill became Republic Act 3445. However, President Carlos P. Garcia did not signed the