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The Province of
Southern Leyte
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 Brief
History
Even before the
Spaniards fell to the Americans on August 13, 1898, there already existed
some kind of a “sub-province” in the southwestern part of Leyte
consisting of the municipalities from Palompon to Hinunangan, with Maasin
as the center.
Maasin was the
depository of cedula tax collections from Palompon to Hinunangan. This was
administered by the office of the Administrado de Hacienda, equivalent to
the Provincial Treasurer, a position under Secretario de Hacienda.
There was also
established in Maasin a Court of First Instance, then known as the
Promoter Fiscal, where all minor administrative and other cases from
Palompon to Hinunangan were heard and disposed of.
However, due to
change of sovereign powers, all the offices in Maasin except the
Fiscal’s Office were abolished and reverted to Tacloban. This created a
major problem because of the dearth of transportation, the difficulty in
managing the affairs of government in Tacloban and the language barrier
between the Cebuano-speaking South-westerners and the Waray Easterners.
The division of Leyte into two provinces and the establishment of a
separate government for the western towns of the island were then thought
of as the only solution to these problems.
At first there was
a general movement for a Western Leyte and soon after, many prominent men
and leaders rallied behind the movement. Six attempts to pass a law for
the division of Leyte were made. On the sixth attempt, then Congressman
Nicanor Yñiguez introduced into the House a division law similar in
substance to that of the Kangleon Bill, but recognizing the impossibility
of creating an East-West Division, he instead opted to make his own
district a province, no matter how small.
Abandoning the
first bill, he presented House Bill No. 1318 proposing a new province of
Southern Leyte comprising the Third Congressional District of Leyte to
include 16 municipalities, from Maasin to Silago in the mainland, and in
the Panaon Island.
Amidst intrigues
and strong oppositions, the bill became Republic Act No. 2227 and was
signed into Law by President Carlos P. Garcia on May 22, 1959. The new
province was inaugurated on July 1, 1960 . Thus the third District of
Leyte became the province of Southern Leyte and Lone District of Southern
Leyte.
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Administrative
Composition |
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Southern
Leyte is originally composed of 16 municipalities and 349 barangays.
It
is composed of 4 (four) islands namely: Panaon Island, Limasawa
Island, San Pedro Island and San Pablo Island.
Recently,
it is composed of 18 municipalities, one city and 500 barangays
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Location
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Geographic
coordinates: 9° 52’ to 10° 37’ North Latitude and 124° 45’
to 125° 15’
East Longitude
Boundaries :
North by Leyte Province
South by the Mindanao Sea & Surigao Strait
West by the Canigao Channel or Visayas Sea
East by the Pacific Ocean
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Geology
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It
has a common geologic feature with Leyte province with four
(4) broad lithologic classification namely: a schist body, and
igneous complex with serpentinized faceis of probable
Cretaceous to Oligocene age, the sedimentary sequence
equivalent to that of Samar Island during early Miocene to
Pleistocene epochs and quaternary volcanic.
Its
rock units are classified into three: the Miocene & Older
Systems, the Plio-Pleistocene Series and Recent Deposits
(Halocene Series).
It
is located within the Philippine Rift Zone. The major fault
lines traverse the municipalities of Sogod, Libagon, St.
Bernard and San Juan to Panaon Island. Based on MGB Region 8
data, these areas experienced strong earthquake in 1907, 1948
(M=6.9) and on July 5, 1984 (M=6.4).
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Topography
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The
terrain of the province is relatively flat land along its
coastal area and rugged mountainous interior regions.
The
highest mountain in the province is Mount Nacolod in
Hinunangan with an elevation of 948 meters above sea level.
Young
volcanic rocks cover the top of the southern mountain ranges
of Mount Cabalian in the Pacific Area and Mount Nelangcapan in
Panaon Area.
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Major
Products
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- Copra,
abaca fiber, banana, rice, corn, root crops, cut flowers,
fruits and vegetables, fish, balut, and meat from hogs and
chicken.
- Ceramics
products and handicraft items made from abaca, coconut and
bamboo
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Transportation
Facilities
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Airport
:
Panan-awan Airport in Maasin City, but is currently not
functional, lacking necessary facilities.
Seaports
- National
ports :
- Maasin
Port
- Liloan
Ferry Terminal
- Municipal
Ports
- Liloan
Port
- St.
Bernard Port
- San
Juan Port
- Sogod
Port
Inter-Provincial
Bus Terminals
- Silago
- Hinunangan
- Sogod
- Liloan
- Maasin
City
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Communication
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Postal
communication system is the major means of communication
in the province located in every city/municipality
through Philippine Postal Corporation. Cellular phone
services are already available in the province through
SMART and GLOBE cell sites in these locations:
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SMART
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GLOBE
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| 1. Lonoy
& Asuncion, Maasin City |
1. Abgao
& Mambajao, Maasin City |
| 2. Padre
Burgos |
2. Sogod |
| 3. Tomas
Oppus |
3.
Liloan |
| 4.
Bontoc |
4.
Hinundayan |
| 5. Sogod |
5.
Malitbog |
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6.
Liloan
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| 7. San
Francisco |
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| 8. St.
Bernard |
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| 9. San
Juan |
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| 10.Hinundayan |
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| 11.Hinunangan |
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| 12.Silago |
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| 13.Macrohon |
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| 14.Libagon |
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| 15.Pintuyan |
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| 16.San
Ricardo |
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There
are 4 telephone companies operating in the province
namely: PLDT, BAYANTEL, GLOBE and BUTEL
The
province has two AM band radio stations: DYDM in Maasin
City and DYSL in Sogod. It has also 5 Cable TV stations
namely:
- Dream
Cable TV in Tagnipa, Maasin City
- Maasin
Cable TV in Abgao, Maasin City,
- Happy
Dove Cable TV in Abgao, Malitbog,
- Sogod
Cable TV in Poblacion, Sogod
- Fiesta
Cable, Inc. in Sto Niño, San Juan.
Some
of the municipalities have public calling office via
GLOBELINES and BUTEL telephone lines. The city of Maasin
and the municipalities of Sogod and Bontoc are already
served with telephone landlines through GLOBE and
BAYANTEL.
There
are three local newspapers published in the province:
- Southern
Leyte Times
- Maasin
Mail
- Southern
Leyte Balita
The
province has two internet service providers for internet
cafe services namely:
- The
SYNET at Asuncion, Maasin City
- Catholic
Media Center Sales & Services, Tunga-tunga,
Maasin City
Other
modes of communications include SSB radios, tele-fax
machines and cargo/envelope forwarders (JRS Express,
Aboitiz Express, Fast Pack and LBC Express).
Peace
and Order
Based
on 2004 PNP assessment report, the peace and order
condition of the province remains stable despite the
slight decrease in crime incidents as compared with
2003. As shown in the table below:
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Type
of Crime
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2003
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2004
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| Murder |
20 |
18 |
| Homicide |
25 |
23 |
| Physical
Injury |
34 |
33 |
| Robbery |
11 |
12 |
| Theft |
3 |
9 |
| Rape |
18 |
18 |
| Total
Index Crime |
111 |
114 |
| Total
Non-Index Crime |
82 |
76 |
| Total
Crime Volume |
193 |
190 |
| Total
crime Solved |
191 |
187 |
| Crime
Solution Efficiency Rate % |
99
% |
98.4
% |
| Average
Monthly Crime Rate |
4.46 |
4.39 |
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Full
Text
Source:
Official Website
of the Province of Southern Leyte |
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