Welcome to Tacloban, Philippines

NThe Leyte Provincial Capitol in Tacloban became the seat of the Commonwealth during the Liberation of 1944.

It has murals depicting the first Mass in Limasawa and Gen. MacArthur´s landing in Leyte. Price Mansion used to be General MacArthurs´s official headquarters, it is now the governor´s guesthouse. The Redoma Residence housed then President Osmeña.

The Tacloban City Hall is on topp of Kanhuraw Hill in front of Sto. Niño Church. At the foot of the hill is a landscaped garden with a statue of the Madonna of Peace which was donated by the Japanese people.

Sto. Niño Church houses the miraculos ivory image of the Child Jesus, parton saint of Tacloban and Leyte. The Sto. Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum has the image of the Holy Child by Fernando Amorsolo, paintings of the 14 Stations of the Cross by Filipino legend Malakas at Maganda The Adjacent People´s Center and Library contains dioramas fo the countrys ethnic groups and historical documents on Samar and Leyte, as well as a social hall and gymnasium. In Serin Disrict are lifesize concrete Stations of the Cross leading to an 18-ft statue of the Sacred Hearth of Jesus.

The Gen. Douglas MacArthur Landing Memorial in Red Beach, Palo, marks the spot where the American liberation forces landed. The Palo Cathedral was converted into an evacuation hospital for Allied forces during World War II. Hill 522 in Palo was the entrance to the first liberated town in 1944.

A Japanese ar Memorial Cementery is in Berauen, where one of the fiercest battles of the Liberation was fought. The Philippine-Japan Peace Memorial, a marker set by relatives of World War II Japanese soldiers, is in Ormoc City.

The city is also the site of Tongonan Hot Spring NAtional PArk which has a warm, medicinal swimming pool at an elevation of 2000 meter. Amid densely forrested hills sits Lake Danao National Park, which has the 3 km long lake said to be the habitat of the giant eel, at an elevation of 1600 meters.

San Juanico Bridge, which connects Leyte to Samar, is the longest and said to be the most beautifully designed bridge in the Philippines.

The Tacloban Festival is held every last week of June. It is kicked off by the Subiran Regatta, a sailboat race held at the eastern entrance of San Juanico Strait.

Next is the Balyuan, a pageant reenacting the historical exchange of images between Basey, Samar, and Tacloban City. Then thre is Pintados Festival where participants paint their bodies and dance to the rhytht of bamboo sticks. On the last day is the city fiesta in honor of the Santo Niño de Leyte.

The Turogpo held every Black Saturday is the traditional contest of carabao (pasungay) and horses (paaway) in the town of Carigara.

The Leyte Landing Anniversary, every October 20, is usually attended by high-ranking government officials and the ambassadors of the united States, Japan and Australia. World War II veterans come on sentimental journeys.

Information source from: Philippine Department of Tourism

AVL-Country-Sight-Travel, Inc
Contact : VIOLY, RITA
Tel. (632) 372-4865, 371-1492, 371-1493