Tacloban City is strategically located at the heart of Eastern Visayas. It lies along the North Eastern side of the island of Leyte about 360 miles southwest of Manila. It is bounded by the municipality of Babatngon in the North, the municipalities of Alang-Alang and Sta. Fe on the West, the municipality of Palo in the South and the San Pedro and Kankabato Bays in the East. There are 138 constituted Barangays with an estimated land area of 10, 856.03 hectares.
Tacloban City was created under RA Nr. 760 on June 20, 1952. On 18 December 2008, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 16-37 dated 04 October 2008, it was classified as Highly Urbanized City (HUC). On June 01, 2009, Tacloban City Police Station was deactivated and Tacloban City Police Office activated pursuant to General Order No. DPL-09-02 dated March 27, 2009, NHQ PNP, Camp Crame, Quezon City.
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Geography
History
Long time ago, Tacloban was used to be called as “Kankabatok” which means “Kabatok’s domain”. it was known to be the first inhabitant of . He settled in an area near to the place where Sto Niño Church now stands. Following him were other people named Gumoda, Harangin, and Huraw forming a small colony still in the name of Kankabatok. Dating back the late 1600s, Kankabatok’s control was shifted to the political administration of Palo, Leyte, but part of the parish of Basey, Samar. The Agustinian Mission then discovered the place in 1770 and then followed by the Franciscans in 1813. During that discovery, Kankabatok changed its name to Tacloban.
Tacloban came from the word Taklub, which means a bamboo contraption that is used by fishermen to catch fish, crabs, or shrimps. Tarakluban is the term used by fisherman which refers to the place they use Taklubs to gather marine resources.
Tacloban is also known as a Waray speaking city. The language is also officially called Lineyte-Samarnon (“Leyte-Samarnon”). A decade before the end of the Spanish sovereignty, the place was dominantly a typical colonial community. Most of its residents were either pure Iberian families or the new generations of Spanish-Filipino blood. Today’s population consists of a healthy mix of Spanish and Chinese mestizos, foreign expatriates and the native Leyteños. Tacloban then became a city through R. A. No. 760 on June 20, 1952 and implemented on June 12, 1953. It was realized under the sponsorship of Daniel Z. Romualdez. He was a representative of the first district of Leyte. Tacloban City is politically subdivided into 138 Barangays of which 124 are classified as Urban Barangays.