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Location / Composition                                                                     

Eastern Samar is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea which forms partof a greater body of water, the Pacific Ocean. To the north lies Northern Samar; to the west, the province of Samar; and to the south, the Leyte Gulf.  

Eastern Samar has 23 municipalities. Borongan, the provincial capital, lies some 550 air kilometers southeast of Manila and roughly 65 air kilometers northwest of Tacloban City, the capital of Eastern Visayas.

Area

Eastern Samar has a total land area of 4,470.75 square kilometers. It measures approximately 150 kms. from the northern boundaries of Jipapad where it abuts Northern Samar to the tip of Sungi Point in Guiuan, the southernmost point of its land body. It is approximately 40 kms at its widest point.

Borongan, the capital, is the largest municipality in terms of area. The largest island is Homonhon in Guiuan with approximate land area of 105 sq. kms.

Topography

The interior part of the province is rough and hilly and covered with dense tropical vegetation but drained by numerous rivers and creeks. Mountain ranges and peaks abound in an interior. The highest among them located at the northwestern part of the province is at 783 meters above sea level.

Narrow plains hug most of the coastal areas and in some instances the banks of its principal rivers and their tributaries. Most of the coastal twons are located on narrow deltaic plains. The widest contiguous plain on relatively level ground lies west of the poblacion of Dolores near the southern banks of the Dolores River. Another smaller plain is located at the municipality of Quinapondan.

Climate

The climate of the province falls under type "E" category with all months having 61 mm. (2.4") rainfall or more. Although the climate is characterized by rain and marked seasonal period of heavy precipitation at all months of the year, it shows distinct seasons: rainy from November to January with northeast monsoon as the prevailing wind and dry from July to September with its westerly winds locally called "habagat" as the prevailing wind.

Population

Eastern Samar has a population of 58.285 and a population density of 129.14 per square kilometer.

Political Subdivisions

The 23 municipalities composing the province are Jipapad. Arteche, San Policarpo, Oras, Maslog, Dolores, Can-avid, Taft, Sulat, San Julian, Borongan, Maydolong, Balangkayan, Llorente, Hernani, Gen. MacArthur, Quinapodan, Salcedo, Giporlos, Lawa-an, Balangiga, Mercedes, and Guiuan. Jipapad and Maslog are interior municipalities while all the rest are located along the coastal areas.

The province has a total of 595 barangays. Borongan has the biggest number of barangays with 61 and closely followed by Guiuan with 60 and Dolores as third with 46. Conversely, those with the least number are Maslog with 12 and Balangiga, Hernani and Jipapad with 13 each.

Brief History

The Province of Eastern Samar was created by Republic Act No. 4221 which was approved by Congress on June 19, 1965 dividing the whole island of Samar into three independent provinces namely: Northern Samar, Western Samar (subsequently renamed Samar) and Eastern Samar. As embodied in this Act, the eastern province is composed of 23 municipalities with Borongan as the capital.

In the 1967 general elections, the newly independent province elected its first set of officials. The provincial board had its inaugural session on January 2, 1968 at the Borongan Town Hall. But it was not until September 7 of the same year when the new province was inaugurated in a simple but impressive ceremony at Borongan town plaza.

Before its existence as an independent province, places which now form part of Eastern Samar played important roles in the history of our country.

On March 16, 1521, Magellan first set foot on Philippine soil on the island of Homonhon on his way to rediscover the Philippines for the western world.

An American garrison of occupation troops was annhilated by the townspeople of Balangiga on September 28, 1901. Now known in history as the "Balangiga Massacre", this incident triggered a wave of reprisal against the people of the whole island of Samar.

On October 17, 1944, rangers of the U.S. Army landed on the tiny island of Suluan, Guiuan and had their first encounter on Philippine territory three days before Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed on the beaches of Leyte.

Earliest known chronicles reveal that further contact with Western civilization aside from the Magellan landing occurred as early as 1596 when Jesuit missionaries worked their way from the western coast of the island of Samar and established mission centers in what is now Eastern Samar territory. It is most probable that the populated existing settlement were created pueblos shortly after this time. The eastern part of the island was known as Ibabao and distinct from Samar which was the name of the western part. Magellan called the place where he landed at Homonhon Island "The Watering Place of Good Signs".

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