The Province of Leyte in a Nutshell
Leyte Provinces is considered to be one of the most historic municipalities of Philippines. It is one of the provinces that rebelled and reacted against the Spanish suppression. Leyte is also known because of the historic landing of the United States Armed Forces during the Second World War. The official provicncial seal of Leyte bears or reflects the historical significance or consciousness of the municipality by the stars indicating the towns of Leyte and a letter on a white cross denoting the antique letter ‘L’. The White Cross denotes the second chapter of the progress of Leyte during the Spanish era when Ferdinand Magellan passed by going to Cebu. The upper part immortalizes General Douglas MacArthur’s landing based on a viewpoint of the National Freedom Park. The city of Tacloban is the main or the capital city of Leyte nad is considered to be the most important seaport on the eastern seaboard. The western coast of Leyte is taken cared of the by the cities of Baybay and Ormoc.
Arts and Culture of the Leyte Province
Even before the Spanish era, there were already settlers living on the place. These settlers, according to historical facts had their own culture, in a way or two. The first locals of Leyte were said to be covered with tattoos or body paintings and they were referred to as the Pintados. In commemoration of these tattooed people of Leyte, the locals held a yearly Pintados Festival. Another notable contribution of Leyte to the culture and arts of the Philippines was through the dance called Tinikling. Tinikling was once considered to be the National Dance of the Philippines. The dance steps or movements are based on a bird known as ‘tikling’. The dance involves two long bamboo poles (parallel with each other) that serve as ‘rails’. These bamboo poles or rails create a beat as they are being hit against the ground and then the poles tend to ‘clasp’ (as per beat) and the dancers would try to avoid getting trapped or caught by these bamboo rails. As the dance goes on, the beat becomes faster and dancers should be more alert to avoid being caught by the clasping poles to the audiences’ delight!
The Province of Leyte and the World Wide Web
In order to make their culture and assets be known all over the Philippines and to the rest of the world, the Leyte Province made an official website (http://www.leyte.org.ph/) where in a few clicks of the mouse button tourists and visitors alike would have a glimpse of what the province of Leyte is all about. The official website has a comprehensive information regarding some noted facts, tourism and doing business in Leyte Province.