Leyte | |
|---|---|
     .jpg) | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location in the Philippines | |
OpenStreetMap  | |
| Coordinates:11°00′N124°51′E / 11°N 124.85°E /11; 124.85 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Eastern Visayas |
| Founded | 1735[1] |
| Capital and largest city | Tacloban |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Carlos Jericho L. Petilla (NPC) |
| • Vice Governor | Leonardo M. Javier Jr. (NPC) |
| • Legislature | Leyte Provincial Board |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,313.33 km2 (2,437.59 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 13th out of 81 |
| (excludes Tacloban City) | |
| Highest elevation (Alto Peak) | 1,332 m (4,370 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[3] | |
• Total | 1,823,458 |
| • Rank | 14th out of 81 |
| • Density | 288.827/km2 (748.058/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 34th out of 81 |
| (excludes Tacloban City) | |
| Demonym(s) | Leytehanon Leyteño(Spanish) |
| Divisions | |
| • Independent cities | |
| • Component cities | |
| • Municipalities | |
| • Barangays |
|
| • Districts | Legislative districts of Leyte(shared withOrmoc andTacloban cities) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)53 |
| ISO 3166 code | PH-LEY |
| Spoken languages | |
| Website | http://leyteprovince.gov.ph/ |
Leyte (alsoNorthern Leyte;Waray:Norte san/Amihanan nga Leyte/Probinsya han Leyte;Cebuano:Amihanang Leyte;Tagalog:Hilagang Leyte), officially theProvince of Leyte, is aprovince in thePhilippines located in theEastern Visayasregion occupying the northern three-quarters ofLeyte Island (with the remaining portion being the province ofSouthern Leyte). Its capital (and largest city) is the city ofTacloban, administered independently from the province, as well as the regional center of Eastern Visayas. Leyte is thus north of Southern Leyte, south ofBiliran, and west ofSamar Island. To the west across theCamotes Sea is the province ofCebu.
The historical name of the Philippines, "Las Islas Felipenas", named by Spanish explorerRuy López de Villalobos in honor ofPrince Philip of Spain, used to refer to the islands ofLeyte andSamar only, until it was adopted to refer to the entire archipelago.[4]
The island of Leyte is known as Tandaya during the 16th century.[5]
Leyte is also known as the site ofthe largest naval battle in modern history, theBattle of Leyte Gulf, which took place during theSecond World War.
Leyte is especially prone to typhoons because it geographically faces toward the Pacific Ocean. On 8 November 2013, the province was severely affected bySuper Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The typhoon, known internationally as Haiyan, and domestically referred to as Yolanda, killed thousands of people and garnered significant international media attention. Leyte suffered similar destruction and loss of life in 1991 fromTropical Storm Uring (Thelma).
The island of Leyte was once the location ofMairete, meaningland of Ete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete centered in the present-day municipality ofLeyte 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 indigenousanimistWarays to the East and other indigenousHindu-BuddhistVisayan groups to the west.
The Spanish explorerRuy López de Villalobos, first came to the island in 1543 and named itLas Islas Felipinas. When the Spanish government established a government inCebu,Leyte andSamar became part of the province ofCebu. In 1595, the religious Jesuits established a mission inCarigara which preceded the mission established inPalo in 1596 and Ormoc and Alangalang missions in 1597. In 1735, Leyte and Samar were separated fromCebu to be established as a single provincial government withCarigara as the first provincial capital. Leyte had jurisdiction over Samar. In 1768,Leyte andSamar were split into two separate provinces.
On March 27, 1923,Act No 3117 was proposed to divide Leyte intoOccidental Leyte andOriental Leyte but was not proclaimed by theGovernor-General of the Philippines.
During theWorld War II era, the Leyte Provincial Capitol briefly became the seat of thePhilippine Commonwealth Government.
TheBattle of Leyte Gulf took place in the seas surrounding this island from October 23 to 26, 1944. It wasthe largest naval battle in modern history, when at least 212 Allied ships clashed with the remnants of theImperial Japanese Navy, some 60 ships, including the super battleshipsYamato andMusashi.
TheFirst 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.
On April 8, 1959,Biliran became a sub-province of Leyte by virtue ofRepublic Act No. 2141.[6] On May 22, 1959,Republic Act No. 2227 was passed into law that separated thethird Congressional District of Leyte, then comprising the southern portion of the namesake island, into a separate province ofSouthern Leyte.[7]
The beginning months of the 1970s had marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines,[8][9] as well as in Leyte.[10][11][12] During hisbid 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[13][14] the Philippine economy to take a sudden downwards turn known as the1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which led to a period of economic difficulty and a significant rise of social unrest.[15][16][17][18]: "43" With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines underMartial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years.[19] This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record ofhuman rights abuses,[20][21] particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship.[22]
In Leyte particularly, Human Rights documentors were able to identify numerous cases of murders, abductions, tortures, maulings, as well ashamleting 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.[10] 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.[23]
This era also saw the construction of theSan Juanico Bridge between Samar and Leyte, which began as one of the high-visibility foreign-loan funded projects ofFerdinand Marcos’ 1969 reelection campaign, and finished four years later in time to be inaugurated on then-First LadyImelda Marcos' birthday on July 2, 1973.[24] The project was initially criticised as awhite elephant by officials at theNational Economic and Development Authority, noting that it was "useless and expensive to maintain",[25] because its average daily traffic was too low to justify the cost of its construction.[25] As a result, its construction has been associated with what has been called the Marcoses' "edifice complex"[26][27] although economic activity in Samar and Leyte has since finally caught up with the bridge's intended function.[27] At the time, its name was used as a slang term for onte of thetorture 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.[28][29][30]
On May 11, 1992, Biliran was separated from Leyte to become an independent province, by virtue ofRepublic Act No. 7160.[31]
In November 2024,4th District RepresentativeRichard Gomez filed House Bill No. 11077, seeking to create Western Leyte, which would cover two cities (Ormoc andBaybay) and 16 municipalities (Albuera,Bato,Calubian,Hilongos,Hindang,Inopacan,Isabel,Kananga,Leyte,Matag-ob,Matalom,Merida,Palompon,San Isidro,Tabango, andVillaba) whereCebuano is predominantly spoken. The remaining areas of Leyte, whereWaray is predominantly spoken, would remain intact. However, the proposal was met by opposition from Leyte GovernorJericho Petilla, 41 of 42 mayors in Leyte, and theSangguniang Bayan (municipal council) of Palompon.[32][33]
Leyte covers a total area of 6,313.33 square kilometres (2,437.59 sq mi)[34], occupying the northern and central sections ofLeyte Island in theEastern Visayas region. The province is situated west ofSamar Island, north ofSouthern Leyte, south ofBiliran, and east of theCamotes Sea.
Leyte comprises 40municipalities and threecities, all clustered into 6congressional districts.
Ormoc is anindependent component city, while the capitalTacloban was declared ahighly 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 theSupreme Court declared itscity charterunconstitutional in 2008. It regained its city status following the reversal of the Supreme Court decision dated December 22, 2009.[35] 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.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1903 | 294,892 | — |
| 1918 | 440,328 | +2.71% |
| 1939 | 688,934 | +2.15% |
| 1948 | 751,649 | +0.97% |
| 1960 | 876,079 | +1.28% |
| 1970 | 1,020,128 | +1.53% |
| 1975 | 1,099,848 | +1.52% |
| 1980 | 1,191,227 | +1.61% |
| 1990 | 1,367,816 | +1.39% |
| 1995 | 1,511,251 | +1.89% |
| 2000 | 1,592,336 | +1.13% |
| 2007 | 1,724,240 | +1.10% |
| 2010 | 1,567,984 | −3.40% |
| 2015 | 1,724,679 | +1.83% |
| 2020 | 1,776,847 | +0.63% |
| 2024 | 1,823,458 | +0.62% |
| (excluding Tacloban City) Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[36][37][37] | ||
The population of Leyte in the 2020 census was 1,776,847 people,[3] with a density of 280 inhabitants per square kilometre or 730 inhabitants per square mile. When Tacloban is included for geographical purposes, the population comes to 1,966,768 people, with a density of302/km2 (782/sq mi).
The people of Leyte province are subdivided into two closely related Visayan ethnolinguistic groups. In the northern, central and eastern parts are theWarays and in the western part are theCebuanos.
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 fromCebuano andWaray, most Leyteños can also speak and understandFilipino andEnglish. Some students who have studied the Spanish language and a few descendants of Spanish colonists can also speak and understandSpanish.
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.[citation needed] The remaining 3% were adherents of other different Christian denominations and sects, such as the indigenousIglesia ni Cristo, theKingdom of Jesus Christ and Members Church of God International, popularly known asAng Dating Daan, and many other foreign religious groups like theMormons,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 theMaranao people and other Moro migrants fromMindanao who work mostly as traders.
The upper portion is a perspective of the national Freedom Park commemorating the landing ofGeneralDouglas MacArthur and the American Liberation Forces in Leyte duringWorld 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.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members
1st District
2nd District
3rd District
4th District
5th District
Ex-Officio Members
| District | Representative | Party | Term | Bloc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez | Lakas | 3 | Majority | |
| 2nd | Lolita T. Javier | Nacionalista | 3 | Majority | |
| 3rd | Anna Victoria V. Tuazon | NUP | 2 | Majority | |
| 4th | Richard I. Gomez, DPA | PFP | 2 | Majority | |
| 5th | Carl Nicolas C. Cari | Lakas | 3 | Majority | |
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, whilecoconut 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 largestgeothermal 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 inLuzon andMindanao.Mining industry has started to pick up in the province with the exploration inMacArthur. Theiron smelting inIsabel has been operational for more than 20 years since its inception.
The Leyte Information Communications Technology (ICT) Park is one of the economic zones approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).[46] Located in Pawing, Palo, Leyte, the 6.8 facility hosts twobusiness process outsourcing (BPO) companies, namely, theExpert 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 byTyphoon Haiyan in 2013.
Leyte is emerging to be an ICT-BPO Hub forEastern Visayas.
Leyte is connected by air with its only commercial airport located inTacloban 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 andAirAsia. 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 throughAllen, Northern Samar inSamar Island (via ferry boat) fromMatnog, Sorsogon inBicol region.
Commercial seaport is of vital importance. Major ports of the province are located atOrmoc City, in the south andTacloban City, in the north. Small ports are also located inPalompon,San Isidro,Bato,Hilongos andBaybay.
Leyte travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related toLeyte (province) at Wikimedia Commons
Geographic data related toLeyte (province) atOpenStreetMapPlaces adjacent to Leyte (province) | |
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 Province ofLeyte | |
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Tacloban (capital and largest city) | |
| Municipalities | |
| Component city | |
| Independent component city |
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| Highly urbanized city |
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