Leyte: Multi-Faceted and Feature-Rich

The province of Leyte in the Philippines has historic significance not only to its locals but to the entire nation as well. It is located in the Eastern Visayas region southeast of Manila, the Philippines’ capital city. It occupies the northern section of the island that also bears its name. Its nearby islands include the scenic province of Samar to the east and Cebu, a major tourist destination in the country, to the west.

The first major historical event in the Philippines and the province of Leyte took place here in 1543 when Spanish explorer Ruy Lopez Villalobos came here and named the place as Las Islas Felipenas after the Spanish royalty. As you might have guessed it, the country’s name is its derivative.

history of Leyte

Mentioning Leyte to every Filipino always brings back the memory of WW II’s most popular phrase “I shall return” of Douglas Macarthur. The Red beach of Tacloban City is a famed landmark where General MacArthur landed on October 20, 1944 as the fulfillment of his promise to liberate the Filipinos from the hands of the Japanese invaders. Today, this historic event can be witnessed through the larger-than-actual-life size statues of Gen. MacArthur, Carlos P. Romulo, Pres. Sergio Osmena and some other men walking ashore fronting the Red Beach.

Much of the city’s touring activities are based on this memorable event and most of the tourists whether Filipinos, Americans or Japanese are close relatives of the heroes who come to Tacloban to reminisce.