In the Philippines, provinces are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government units in the National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are independent of any provincial government. Each province is governed by an elected legislature called the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and an elected governor.
Leyte, officially the Province of Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region occupying the northern three-quarters of Leyte Island. Its capital is the city of Tacloban, administered independently from the province, as well as the regional center of Eastern Visayas. Leyte is thus north of Southern Leyte, south of Biliran, and west of Samar Island. To the west across the Camotes Sea is the province of Cebu.
Southern Leyte, officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Maasin. Southern Leyte comprised the third congressional district Leyte until it was made into an independent province in 1959. Southern Leyte includes Limasawa, an island to the south where the first Roman Catholic Mass in Philippine soil is believed to have taken place and thus considered to be the birthplace of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.
Eastern Samar, officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan, which is the most populous. Eastern Samar occupies the eastern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the north is the province of Northern Samar and to the west is Samar province. To the east lies the Philippine Sea, part of the vast Pacific Ocean, while to the south lies Leyte Gulf.
Samar, officially the Province of Samar, or also known named as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Catbalogan while Calbayog is the most populous city in the province. It is bordered by Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Leyte Gulf, and includes several islands in the Samar Sea. Samar is connected to the island of Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge.
Samar is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided into three provinces: Samar, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar. These three provinces, along with the provinces on the nearby islands of Leyte and Biliran, are part of the Eastern Visayas region.
Tacloban, officially the City of Tacloban, is a highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a population of 251,881, making it the most populous city in the Eastern Visayas. The city is located 360 miles (580 km) southeast from Manila.
Villaba, officially the Municipality of Villaba, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 42,859 people.
Borongan, officially the City of Borongan, is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,961 people.
The Waray people are a subgroup of the larger ethnolinguistic group Bisaya people, who constitute the 4th largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines. Their primary language is the Waray language, an Austronesian language native to the islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran, which together comprise the Eastern Visayas Region of the Philippines. Waray people inhabit most of Samar where they are called Samareños/Samarnons, the northern part of the island of Leyte where they are called Leyteños, and the island of Biliran. In Leyte island, the Waray-speaking people are separated from the Cebuano-speaking Leyteños by the island's mountain range at the middle.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calbayog is an ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church named after its episcopal see, Calbayog, a city on the western side of the province of Samar in the Philippines.
Catbalogan, officially the City of Catbalogan, is a 5th class component city and capital city of the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 106,440 people.
Carlos Benjamin Orestes "Kokoy" Trinidad Romualdez was a Filipino politician who served as Governor of Leyte and later appointed as ambassador to the United States, China and Saudi Arabia.
1944 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1944.
Eastern Visayas is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte, and Biliran. The region has six provinces: Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, one independent city, Ormoc, and one highly urbanized city, Tacloban. The highly urbanized city of Tacloban is the sole regional center. These provinces and cities occupy the easternmost islands of the Visayas group of islands, hence the region's name. Some historians believe that the oldest ancient kingdom in the Philippines is found in this region, the Lakanate of Lawan, which plays a significant role in the Polynesian and Austronesian intermigration.
Elections were held in Eastern Visayas for seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines on May 9, 2016.
Samar was a province in the Philippines which is coterminous with the island of Samar and its outlying islands. It existed from the Spanish colonization era until its division into three provinces—Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Western Samar —in 1965.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Eastern Visayas is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus reached Eastern Visayas on March 23, 2020, when the first case of the disease was confirmed in Northern Samar.
The 1965 Samar division plebiscite was a plebiscite held in the province of Samar on November 9, 1965. As required by Republic Act No. 4221 approved on June 19, 1965, the plebiscite was conducted to consent the voters of Samar on the proposal to divide the province into three separate provinces: Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar. The plebiscite was held concurrently with the 1965 Philippine general election and the results were announced on February 15, 1966. The law was ratified to formalize the division.
The governor of Eastern Samar is the local chief executive and head of the Provincial Government of Eastern Samar in the Philippines. Along with the governors of Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, and Southern Leyte, the province's chief executive is a member of the Regional Development Council of the Eastern Visayas Region.
