Eleven years ago, on this day (November 8), Typhoon Haiyan, known locally in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, struck the Visayas islands of the Philippines. The Eastern Visayas region was the most affected; and Tacloban—a coastal city and the provincial capital of Leyte province—was heavily devastated by the typhoon. The strongest typhoon of 2013 led to an estimated 6,300 fatalities, with most coming from Eastern Visayas, but estimates may be higher than this government-recorded data report.
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| Tacloban's city hall situated on top of a hill. |
Ten years after the heartbreaking devastation brought by this typhoon, I booked a trip to Tacloban in November 2023 to see how the city has recovered. This visit covered not only Leyte, but also Samar and Eastern Samar.
Note: This blog is the first of two parts of our 2023 Leyte and Samar Weekend Trip. See this link for the second part.
Route map
Main tour experience
Shortly after arriving from our Cebu Pacific flight on one sunny afternoon of November 17, 2023, we availed for a van service for our private city tour. While along the road linking the airport to the city, our driver shared scary and heartbreaking stories of the buildings surrounding the road, which were once wiped away by strong winds and high storm surges.
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| The Tacloban City Convention Center is our first stop of this private tour. |
The first stop of our private city tour is the Tacloban City Convention Center, also known as the Tacloban Astrodome. Completed in 2006, this 4,500-seater indoor arena is located near the coast. It hosted a variety of events like concerts, conventions, and the Miss Tacloban beauty pageant. In the aftermath of Yolanda, this was used as an evacuation center for victims.
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| A memorial behind the Tacloban Convention Center built in honor of Yolanda victims. |
Just behind the astrodome is a memorial built to honor the victims of Yolanda. I meditated and prayed for the eternal repose of the souls of the victims. Months before this visit, I as a Grade 10 student were taught about disaster risk reduction in our Araling Panlipunan (Social Science) subject which focused on Contemporary Issues. The super typhoon was frequently cited in most of the schoolbooks I had.
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| The Redemptorist Parish Church in Tacloban. |
We then ate our lunch at a Jollibee restaurant nearby, before going to our next stop: the Redemptorist Parish located just across the restaurant. Erected in 1967, this Roman Catholic parish is dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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| The Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum was our third stop. |
We then made our way to the Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum. Formerly owned by the Marcos family, it was built from 1979 to 1981. Under the management of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, this residential building-turned-museum features many of Imelda Marcos' collections, as well as Santo Niño artifacts.
Meanwhile, here were other stops we made along the way:
- Tacloban City Hall – situated on top of a hill named Kanhuraw, this is also the nickname of the headquarters of the local city government. Just behind the city hall, you can find the Black Madonna of Japan.
- Old Leyte Provincial Capitol – built from 1917 to 1924, it once served as the headquarters of the provincial government of Leyte. The building was damaged by the Second World War and Super Typhoon Yolanda before being abandoned in 2019 after a strong earthquake struck Eastern Samar and nearby provinces, including Leyte.
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| M/V Eva Jocelyn Yolanda Memorial Shrine. This was a former vessel which was repurposed as a memorial site. |
Perhaps the most important stop we made was the M/V Eva Jocelyn Shrine, which one of the landmarks of Tacloban. This former ship rammed into the landmass because of the high storm surge caused by the super typhoon. A house once stood behind the shrine, in which its occupants were killed during the storm surge. Eventually, the ship was decommissioned and divided into parts, with the front one being preserved for remembrance.
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| Our hotel: Tacloban Plaza Hotel. A usual budget hotel conveniently located within the city proper. |
Tacloban Plaza Hotel, a budget hotel, is conveniently located at the city center. We booked this hotel for $34.16 (1,995 pesos) a night, totaling $68.32 (3,990 pesos). The room was clean, decent, and everything else is working. It does have a restaurant at the 2nd floor, best for morning breakfasts.
Wrapping up the day with a not-so-lavish dinner at Ocho Seafood and Grill.
We then walked to Ocho Seafood and Grill for a $23 (3,990 pesos) dinner consisting of calamari, some soup meals, and other dishes. To my surprise, a surprise birthday treat was offered to me by the restaurant staff. Before I blew my candle, I made a short thanksgiving message to the staff. Following the conclusion of our dinner, we walked to SM Savemore Tacloban to buy bottled water and packed fresh milk for our personal needs before going back to our hotel.
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