Leyte (province): History
=== Early history ===
The island of Leyte was once the location of Mairete, meaning land of Ete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete centered in the present-day municipality of Leyte and nearby towns. It was the oldest city-state in the entire Eastern Visayas region. Before being colonized by Spain, the island was once home to indigenous animist Warays to the East and other indigenous Hindu-Buddhist Visayan groups to the west.
The Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, first came to the island in 1543 and named it Las Islas Felipinas. When the Spanish government established a government in Cebu, Leyte and Samar became part of the province of Cebu. In 1595, the religious Jesuits established a mission in Carigara which preceded the mission established in Palo in 1596 and Ormoc and Alangalang missions in 1597. In 1735, Leyte and Samar were separated from Cebu to be established as a single provincial government with Carigara as the first provincial capital. Leyte had jurisdiction over Samar. In 1768, Leyte and Samar were split into two separate provinces. The 1818 census showed that Leyte had 16,244 native families and 56 Spanish-Filipino families.
On March 27, 1923, Act No 3117 was proposed to divide Leyte into Occidental Leyte and Oriental Leyte but was not proclaimed by the Governor-General of the Philippines.
During the World War II era, the Leyte Provincial Capitol briefly became the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth Government.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf took place in the seas surrounding this island from October 23 to 26, 1944. It was the largest naval battle in modern history, when at least 212 Allied ships clashed with the remnants of the Imperial Japanese Navy, some 60 ships, including the super battleships Yamato and Musashi.
The First Battle of Leyte occurred on October 20, 1944. A successful Allied invasion of the island was the crucial element to the eventual Filipino and American victory in the Philippines.
On April 8, 1959, Biliran became a sub-province of Leyte by virtue of Republic Act No. 2141. On May 22, 1959, Republic Act No. 2227 was passed into law that separated the third Congressional District of Leyte, then comprising the southern portion of the namesake island, into a separate province of Southern Leyte. …