Leyte (province)

History

Early history

The island of Leyte was once the location of Mairete, meaning land of Ete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete centered in the present-day municipality of Leyte and nearby towns. It was the oldest city-state in the entire Eastern Visayas region. Before being colonized by Spain, the island was once home to indigenous animist Warays to the East and other indigenous Hindu-Buddhist Visayan groups to the west.

Spanish colonial era

The Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, first came to the island in 1543 and named it Las Islas Felipinas. When the Spanish government established a government in Cebu, Leyte and Samar became part of the province of Cebu. In 1595, the religious Jesuits established a mission in Carigara which preceded the mission established in Palo in 1596 and Ormoc and Alangalang missions in 1597. In 1735, Leyte and Samar were separated from Cebu to be established as a single provincial government with Carigara as the first provincial capital. Leyte had jurisdiction over Samar. In 1768, Leyte and Samar were split into two separate provinces.

American colonial era

On March 27, 1923, Act No 3117 was proposed to divide Leyte into Occidental Leyte and Oriental Leyte but was not proclaimed by the Governor-General of the Philippines.

Japanese occupation

During the World War II era, the Leyte Provincial Capitol briefly became the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth Government.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Main article: Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf took place in the seas surrounding this island from October 23 to 26, 1944. It was the largest naval battle in modern history, when at least 212 Allied ships clashed with the remnants of the Imperial Japanese Navy, some 60 ships, including the super battleships Yamato and Musashi.

The First Battle of Leyte occurred on October 20, 1944. A successful Allied invasion of the island was the crucial element to the eventual Filipino and American victory in the Philippines.

Contemporary

On April 8, 1959, Biliran became a sub-province of Leyte by virtue of Republic Act No. 2141. On May 22, 1959, Republic Act No. 2227 was passed into law that separated the third Congressional District of Leyte, then comprising the southern portion of the namesake island, into a separate province of Southern Leyte.

Marcos dictatorship

Main article: Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, Human rights abuses of the Marcos dictatorship

The beginning months of the 1970s had marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines, as well as in Leyte. During his bid to be the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term, Ferdinand Marcos launched an unprecedented number of foreign debt-funded public works projects. This caused the Philippine economy to take a sudden downwards turn known as the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which led to a period of economic difficulty and a significant rise of social unrest. With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years. This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship.

In Leyte particularly, Human Rights documentors were able to identify numerous cases of murders, abductions, tortures, maulings, as well as hamleting of communities in the towns of Abuyog, Javier, Mac Arthur Burauen, Hindang, Hilongos, Baybay, Inopacan and Mahaplag and in the Southern Leyte Barangays of San Juan, Anahawan, Hinunangan and Sodong - all in the year 1985 alone. The hamlet created by the military in Barangay Pikasor in the Municipality of Abuyog was particularly notable because paramilitary forces massacred the residents who had been gathered there that year.

This era also saw the construction of the San Juanico Bridge between Samar and Leyte, which began as one of the high-visibility foreign-loan funded projects of Ferdinand Marcos’ 1969 reelection campaign, and finished four years later in time to be inaugurated on then-First Lady Imelda Marcos' birthday on July 2, 1973. The project was initially criticised as a white elephant by officials at the National Economic and Development Authority, noting that it was "useless and expensive to maintain", because its average daily traffic was too low to justify the cost of its construction. As a result, its construction has been associated with what has been called the Marcoses' "edifice complex" although economic activity in Samar and Leyte has since finally caught up with the bridge's intended function. At the time, its name was used as a slang term for onte of the torture methods used by the Marcos dictatorship, in which a person being beaten while the victim's head and feet lay on separate beds and the body is suspended as though to form a bridge.

Contemporary

Creation of Biliran

On May 11, 1992, Biliran was separated from Leyte to become an independent province, by virtue of Republic Act No. 7160.

Proposed creation of Western Leyte

In November 2024, 4th District Representative Richard Gomez filed House Bill No. 11077, seeking to create Western Leyte, which would cover two cities (Ormoc and Baybay) and 16 municipalities (Albuera, Bato, Calubian, Hilongos, Hindang, Inopacan, Isabel, Kananga, Leyte, Matag-ob, Matalom, Merida, Palompon, San Isidro, Tabango, and Villaba) where Cebuano is predominantly spoken. The remaining areas of Leyte, where Waray is predominantly spoken, would remain intact. However, the proposal was met by opposition from Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla, 41 of 42 mayors in Leyte, and the Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) of Palompon.{{cite news|url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/12/05/regions/proposed-law-creating-western-leyte-opposed/2016121|title=Proposed law creating Western Leyte opposed

Geography

Leyte covers a total area of 6,313.33 km2, occupying the northern and central sections of Leyte Island in the Eastern Visayas region. The province is situated west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte, south of Biliran, and east of the Camotes Sea.

Administrative divisions

Leyte comprises 40 municipalities and three cities, all clustered into 6 congressional districts.

Ormoc is an independent component city, while the capital Tacloban was declared a highly urbanized city in 2008. Both cities govern themselves independently of the province and their residents do not vote for elective provincial officials.

Baybay attained cityhood in 2007 but reverted to its municipal status when the Supreme Court declared its city charter unconstitutional in 2008. It regained its city status following the reversal of the Supreme Court decision dated December 22, 2009. In August 2010, however, a resolution had been passed reverting 16 cities, one of which was Baybay, to municipal status. It was on February 15, 2011, that the Supreme Court reversed its decision once again, allowing Baybay, along with the other 16 cities, to retain their cityhood status.

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Demographics

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

The population of Leyte in the 2020 census was 1,776,847 people, with a density of {{sigfig|1,776,847/6,313.33|2}} PD/km2. When Tacloban is included for geographical purposes, the population comes to 1,966,768 people, with a density of .

The people of Leyte province are subdivided into two closely related Visayan ethnolinguistic groups. In the northern, central and eastern parts are the Warays and in the western part are the Cebuanos.

Tacloban-Waray dialect is considered as the standard form of Waray language and is used as the de facto lingua franca in both Leyte and Samar Islands. Aside from Cebuano and Waray, most Leyteños can also speak and understand Filipino and English. Some students who have studied the Spanish language and a few descendants of Spanish colonists can also speak and understand Spanish.

Leyte is predominantly a Roman Catholic Christian province. The 2000 census stated that 97% of Leyte's population adhered to Roman Catholicism, one of the highest percentages in the Visayas. The remaining 3% were adherents of other different Christian denominations and sects, such as the indigenous Iglesia ni Cristo, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and Members Church of God International, popularly known as Ang Dating Daan, and many other foreign religious groups like the Mormons, Born Again Christians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-Day Adventists (Sabadistas), and many more.

Islam is also present in the province and concentrated in the metropolitan Tacloban area. It comprises 0.3% of Tacloban City's population, and its adherents are mainly the Maranao people and other Moro migrants from Mindanao who work mostly as traders.

Official provincial seal

The upper portion is a perspective of the national Freedom Park commemorating the landing of General Douglas MacArthur and the American Liberation Forces in Leyte during World War II. The white cross represents the 2nd phase of Leyte's development when Magellan stopped here on his way to Cebu. The alphabet on the cross argent is the ancient Visayan paleographic syllabary of the letter L which stands for Leyte. The stars around the inner circle symbolize the forty-one towns of Leyte and the everlasting flame symbolizes the soldiers who died during World War II.

Government

Main article: Province of the Philippines

Main article: Eastern Visayas

• Governor: Carlos Jericho L. Petilla (NPC)
• Vice-Governor: Leonardo M. Javier Jr. (NPC)

Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members

1st District

• Wilson S. Uy (NPC)
• Ronnan Christian M. Reposar (Liberal)

2nd District

• Raissa J. Villasin (NPC)
• Mildred Joy P. Que (PFP)

3rd District

• Marie Kathryn V. Kabigting (NUP)
• Allan P. Ang (NUP)

4th District

• Flaviano C. Centino Jr. (NUP)
• Elmer Frederico N. Codilla (NUP)

5th District

• Michael L. Cari (NPC)
• Carlo P. Loreto (NPC)

Ex-Officio Members

• Ma. Martina L. Gimenez (President, Liga ng mga Barangay)
• Carmen L. Cari (President, PCL)
• MJ Luinly D. Lumen (President, SK Provincial Federation)

House of Representatives

Main article: Legislative districts of Leyte

Economy

The economy of Leyte is a mixed agriculture, fishing, industrial, energy and mining. Rice is farmed in the lowland plains areas specifically those around Tacloban, while coconut farming, is the main cash crop in upland and mountainous areas. Sugarcane plantation is no. 1 produce in Ormoc City. Since Leyte is an island province, fishing is a major source of livelihood among coastal residents.

The province is the site of the largest geothermal power plant in Asia, making it one of the resource-rich provinces of the Philippines. Excess energy of the numerous power plants in the geothermal valley that generate electricity is supplied to the national grid that adds to the energy demand in Luzon and Mindanao. Mining industry has started to pick up in the province with the exploration in MacArthur. The iron smelting in Isabel has been operational for more than 20 years since its inception.

Leyte ICT Park

The Leyte Information Communications Technology (ICT) Park is one of the economic zones approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Located in Pawing, Palo, Leyte, the 6.8 facility hosts two business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, namely, the Expert Global Solutions (EGS) Company (formerly APAC Customer Services, Inc.) and ACUDATA, Inc. (a financial and data services BPO). However, EGS decided to fully close its operations after its facility was destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Leyte is emerging to be an ICT-BPO Hub for Eastern Visayas.

Transportation

Leyte is connected by air with its only commercial airport located in Tacloban City. Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport, which is one of the busiest airports in the Philippines, is served by three major airlines, Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia. Tacloban Airport primarily serves connecting flights from major Philippine cities (Manila and Cebu).

Philtranco, which has a bus stop in Tacloban and Ormoc, operates a route along Manila-Maharlika highway, passing through Allen, Northern Samar in Samar Island (via ferry boat) from Matnog, Sorsogon in Bicol region.

Commercial seaport is of vital importance. Major ports of the province are located at Ormoc City, in the south and Tacloban City, in the north. Small ports are also located in Palompon, San Isidro, Bato, Hilongos and Baybay.

Notable personalities

Main article: List of people from Leyte

References

References

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