Report in Region VIII

Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)

Their are 6 Provinces in Region VIII

• Biliran
• Samar
• Northern Samar
• Eastern Samar
• Leyte
• Southern Samar

^·           The first town, named Biliran, was founded in 1712 after petitioning for a municipality and parish status. During this time, the island was a part of Cebu Province. Biliran, together with the islands of Samar and Leyte, were constituted into a separate province in 1735. Later when Samar and Leyte were split into two provinces in 1768, Biliran became part of Leyte Province. The first parish priest was assigned in 1765, but its parish status was apparently withdrawn because of Padre Gaspar’s apostasy. The parish was re-established on February 22, 1782.

·         Northern Samar is one of the three provinces comprising Samar Island (the other two are Samar and Eastern Samar provinces). It is bounded by the Philippine Sea on the east, the San Bernardino Strait on the north, Samar Sea on the west, and the Samar and Eastern Samar provinces on the south. It ranks thirty-seventh (37th) in size among the 80 provinces of the Philippines and accounts for practically 1.2 percent of the total land area of the country. It is located at the eastern edge of the Archipelago with an area of 369,293 hectares (3,692.93 km²). About 52 percent of the total land area is covered by forest and 42 percent is classified as alienable and disposable.

·         Leyte is also known as the site of the largest naval battle in modern history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which took place during theSecond World War.

·         Eastern Samar-The province occupies a total land area of 466,047 hectares (1,151,630 acres). Because it faces the Pacific Ocean, Eastern Samar suffers heavily from powerful typhoons.

·         Southern Leyte occupies the southern quarter of the island of Leyte. It is bounded by the province of Leyte to the north, by Surigao Strait to the east, Bohol Sea to the south, andCanigao Channel, across from Bohol, to the west. Its total land area is 179,861 hectares (444,450 acres). The central portion of the province is dominated by the Sogod Bay, a long bay that cuts deep into the island.

·         Samar is the second major fish producing province in the region. In 2007, its fish production totalled to 47,662 metric tons, contributing 24.9 % to the region's total fish production.

Samar also boasts of beautiful natural attractions. Some of these include: waterfalls in Calbayog City; the Sohoton National Park in the town of Basey where three famous cave can be found; and the world's second largest cave, Calbiga Cave which is located in the town of Calbiga.

Places of Interest in Region VIII

Biliran is an solfataric active volcano located in the island province of Biliran in the Philippines. The volcano caused the formation of the island.

Eastern Samar is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan. Eastern Samar occupies the eastern portion of the island of Samar.

It was on the shores of Leyte that General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise to the Filipino people of returning to the Philippines and helping the Filipino forces liberate the country. This happened on October 20, 1944. With this, Leyte became one of the most historically-rich provinces of the Philippines. From battlegrounds to memorials, Leyte has various ways to commemorate this historic event. Aside from its rich history, Leyte is also home to one of the country’s architectural wonder: the San Juanico Bridge. Surely, Leyte has a lot to offer and will definitely captivate a tourist’s mind and heart.

Agas-Agas Bridge, the highest bridge in the country, located at Barangay Kahupian, Sogod, Southern Leyte as part of the Maharlika Highway.

Lake Danao is a guitar-shaped lake on the hills of Ormoc in the province of Leyte.

Products in Region VIII

Jackfruit

Peanuts

Nito Based Products

Tikog Mats

Coconut Groove Coco Vinegar

Delicacies in Region VIII

Biliran’s suman balintawak has swirls of black and white riceSuman, rice cake wrapped in banana leaves, is a classic delicacy that has interesting versions in the Visayas.

Binagol is a pudding made from a giant root crop called talyan

Binagol — a delicacy of Leyte and Samar — is a pudding made from the root croptalyan, which looks like a giant gabi (taro). Its name is derived from the word bagol, which means coconut shell.

KUMANTAHA Local Delicacy of Biri, Northern Samar

Dighay to Death!: Guiuan, Eastern Samar Delicacies

LITERARY FORMS IN THE REGION VIII

The literature of Eastern Visayas refers to the literature written in Waray and Cebuano by writers from the region.Of the two, it is Waray literature that has been collected, recorded, and documented by scholars and researchers. It is in this light that whenever East Visayan literature is written about, it is usually Waray literature that is being described.

Date 1668 when a Spanish Jesuit by the name of Fr. Ignatio Francisco Alzina documented the poetic forms such as the candu, haya, ambahan, canogon, bical, balac, sidayand awit. He also described the susumaton and posong, early forms of narratives. 

Languages in Region VIII

·         The inhabitants of Biliran primarily speak Cebuano and Waray, both Visayan languages. The majority of the residents also speak and understand Tagalog and English.

·         Majority of the people in the province of Northern Samar speak the Ninorte Samarnon, a variation of Waray-Waray. About 4.5 percent of the population, especially in the island towns, speak Cebuano, while a minority speaks Inabaknon, a unique language said to be one of the most preserved languages to date. This is the native tongue of the populace in the island town of Capul.

Ninorte Samarnon usually is further subclassified into Balicuatro, Central and Pacific speakers.

Tagalog, Bicol, and English are also widely used and understood in Northern Samar.

·         The people of Leyte are divided into two main groups, primarily by language. In the west and south are the Cebuanos, while in the north and east is the Waray-Waray (Leyte dialect).

But Waray-Waray is considered as the lingua franca of the province especially in the metropolitan area of Tacloban between the Cebuanospeaking Leyteños or locally known as Kana and the Waraynons. This is also used as a lingua franca between Leyteños and other Filipinos of other ethnolinguistic backgrounds.

There are also some Spanish mestizos and some natives of the province who can understand and speak Spanish due to the province's colonial history.

·         Residents of Samar are mostly Waray, the sixth largest cultural-linguistic group in the country. 90.2 percent of the household population speaks the Waray-Waray language, while 9.8 percent also speak Cebuano; 8.1 percent Boholano; 0.07 percent Tagalog; and 0.5 percent other languages.

·          EASTERN SAMAR-The predominant language is Waray.

·         The natives of this city are called Ormocanons, with most being Cebuano speakers (or Kana, as Cebuano-speakers in Leyte and Southern Leyte are often called by the Waray people) together with the whole western and southern parts of Leyte island.

·         Tacloban is predominantly a Waray-speaking city. The language is also officially called Lineyte-Samarnon ("Leyte-Samarnon") and spoken by more than 90% of the total city population. Waray-Waray, aside from being the native language of the city, is also the lingua franca used in the city among Filipinos of various ethnic groups.