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Samar
Island in the Philippines From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Samar (/ˈsɑːmɑːr/ SAH-mar) is the third largest island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,924,651 as of the 2024 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas and its main language and ethnicity is Waray while its main religion is Roman Catholic. The island is divided into three provinces: Western Samar, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar. On June 19, 1965, through a law, Samar was divided into those three provinces. The capitals of these provinces are, respectively, Catarman, Catbalogan, and Borongan. These three provinces are part of the Eastern Visayas region. The island was first sighted by Ferdinand Magellan on March 16, 1521. Although he did not land, other expeditions were made. Many names, such as Samal, Ibabao, and Tandaya, were given to the island prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1596. During the early days of Spanish occupation, Samar was under the jurisdiction of Cebu. In commemoration of the establishment of these provinces, June 19 is celebrated as an annual holiday, and many have the day off from work. In the Philippine–American War, Eugenio Daza led a successful attack against the United States Army, later called the Balangiga massacre. This attack led to the Pacification of Samar and deaths of 2,000 people.
In the American colonialization of the Philippines, two uprisings were created; the former was the Pulajan movement which caused massacres in the country. The Battle off Samar was held off the island. In the martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, the Sag-od massacre was caused. After the martial law, the island is still plagued with the New People's Army rebellion. Samar is the easternmost island in the Visayas archipelago. The island lies to the northeast of Leyte and lies to the southeast of the Bicol Peninsula on Luzon. To the west is the Samar Sea, and to the north and east of Samar lies the Philippine Sea. The island has the Samar Island Natural Park and has numerous biological discoveries and forests.
The island has a major copra industry and participates in agriculture, producing rice, corn, vegetables, and abaca. The isle also has fisheries and shopping centers scattered across. The island also has a major tourism industry. In transportation, the island has numerous major highways and has a portion of the Pan-Philippine Highway. The island has four major ports and three airports servicing flights to either Cebu City and Metro Manila. Eastern Samar's electric distribution utility is the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO). Two electric cooperatives serve Western Samar, namely: the Samar I and Samar II Electric Cooperative (SAMELCO). Northern Samar's electric cooperative is the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative (NORSAMELCO). The island has six Department of Education divisions and numerous universities with satellite campuses.
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History
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Spanish colonialization
Samar was the first island of the Philippines sighted by the Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan (transcribed as Zamal in the diary of Antonio Pigafetta). He sighted it on March 16, 1521, having sailed there from the Mariana Islands.[4][5] Realizing he had arrived at an archipelago, he charted the islands and called them San Lazaro (transl. Saint Lazarus) because they were sighted on Lazarus Saturday. The Spaniards later called the island Filipinas. Although Samar was the first island of the Philippines sighted by Magellan, he did not land there. He continued south, weighed anchor at Suluan Island, and then finally, on March 17, 1521, he landed on Homonhon Island.[6] Later in the 1700s, Samar was recorded to have about 103 Spanish Filipino families and 3,042 native families.[7]
Years later, other Spanish expeditions arrived. The historian William Henry Scott wrote that a "Samar datu by the name of Iberein was rowed out to a Spanish vessel anchored in his harbor in 1543 by oarsmen collared in gold; while wearing on his own person earrings and chains." Scott recounted a Samarnon saga, which was called siday, about Bingi of Lawan, a prosperous settlement in Samar.[8] Samar had names which are recorded in early Spanish sources, including Ibabao (or Cibabao), Achan, Camlaya, and Taridola. The Spanish captain Miguel Lopez de Legaspi also called the island Tandaya, after mistaking the name of a lord with the name of the island. This was spelled by Miguel de Loarca as Candaya.[5]
During the early years of the Spanish colonialization, the province was placed in the jurisdiction of Cebu but was eventually separated into its own province. A rebellion was sparked in 1649 which was centered in Palapag, causing an uprising in Visayas and parts of Mindanao. The uprising was not suppressed until the next year. This caused rebels to migrate to the mountains and create a new settlement. In 1735, the province and Leyte merged into a singular province; Carigara was declared as the capital. In 1768, Samar was separated from Leyte. In 1860, the government structure was reorganized and was maintained until the end of the regime.[4]
Philippine-American War
On September 28, 1901, Eugenio Daza, Area Commander of Southeastern Samar and Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief,[9] launched an attack on U.S. Army Company 9th Infantry Regiment who were occupying Balangiga. This action, commonly known as the Balangiga massacre, brought one of the only Filipino victories of the war and the worst American defeat in decades.[10] In 1989, "Balangiga Encounter Day" was established as a provincial holiday in Eastern Samar to celebrate the victory.[11][12] In retaliation for the massacre, General Jacob H. Smith ordered his men to "kill and burn". Further stating that "the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me".[13][14] This command led to the deaths of 2,000 Filipino insurgents and civilians while sparking outrage in the United States.[13][15] In his history of the war, Brian McAllister Linn asserts "Samar cast a pall on the army's achievement and, for generations, has been associated in the public mind as typifying the Philippine War."[16]
American and Japanese colonization; World War II
After the war, the archipelago was peaceful except the island of Samar, which was a "dark and bloody" isle according to James Henderson Blount.[17] In 1904, the Pulajans in Samar caused powerful massacres to the extent of Governor-General Luke Edward Wright's concern.[18] Numerous civilians joined the uprising due to the feeling of "unprotection".[19] The rebellion was discussed by many American politicians and military officers and caused court cases just before the 1904 United States presidential election.[20] Four days after the election, Wright visited Samar, where troops increased to 2,000 from 700.[21] After battles and negotiations, the uprising eventually ended in 1906.[22] When the rebellion ended, the island, according to Blount, started becoming "peaceful".[23] More revolts were made from religious associations in the 1920s to 1930s.[24] In World War II, the waters off the east side of the island also hosted the Battle off Samar in October 1944 wherein an unarmored force of United States Navy escorts fought off the center force of the Imperial Japanese Navy, including the Japanese battleship Yamato.[25] When Japan colonized the Philippines, the Pulajan uprising became active again. Japan left the Philippines in 1945.[26]
Marcos's dictatorship era and contemporary period
The beginning months of the 1970s marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines, as well as in Samar due to the start of the martial law under Ferdinand Marcos.[27] One of the infamous incidents of the Marcos dictatorship era was the Sag-od massacre in Las Navas, Northern Samar, which took place on September 15, 1981.[28] Numerous security personnel of Juan Ponce Enrile's San Jose Timber Corporation allied with a paramilitary group called "the Lost Command" and ordered residents of Barrio Sag-od out of their homes, then opened fire on them. Forty-five men, women and children were killed, leaving only 13 inhabitants of Barrio Sag-od alive.[28] This era also saw the construction of the San Juanico Bridge between Samar and Leyte which was finished on July 2, 1973.[29] Since then, the island had numerous humans' rights cases from the New People's Army rebellion.[30] Numerous military operations and insurgent surrenders lessened the rebellion.[31]
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Geography
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Samar is the third-largest island in the Philippines by area, after the islands of Luzon and Mindanao.[32] Mount Huraw is Samar's highest point, with an elevation of 2,920 ft (890 m).[33] Samar is the easternmost island in the Visayas. It lies to the northeast of Leyte, separated from it only by the San Juanico Strait. The island lies to the southeast of the Bicol Peninsula on Luzon, separated from it only by the San Bernardino Strait. To the west is the Samar Sea, and to the north and east of Samar lies the Philippine Sea. The island is hilly yet has lower altitude than the mountainous terrain in the rest of the Visayas. Lowlands are mostly found near the coast and along rivers; the rivers themselves are small and flow in a radial pattern.[32] The island, along with the region of Eastern Visayas, is rainy most of the year, ranging from seven to ten.[34] Numerous typhoons are formed in the area. Eastern Samar, specifically, has a Type II climate without a dry season with an increase in rainfall.[32]
Flora and fauna
The Samar Island Natural Park is a 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) forest within the island, encompassing all three provinces in the isle. It contains the largest tract of intact lowland forest in the Philippines. The park has a population of Dipterocarpaceae species, six of them are endangered, and contains the rare Philippine eagle. The park contains six ecological forest types and has numerous waterfalls. Species in the island itself include the Philippine sailfin lizard, the Draco mindanensis, the Philippine hawk-eagle, the Giant golden-crowned flying fox, the Red-vented cockatoo, and the Philippine crocodile.[35] The municipality of Basey contains Karst forests with a total of 67 vascular plant species. In these forests, Dipterocarpaceae is the most prominent plant family.[36] Out of 2,400 flower species throughout the Philippines, 40 are only found in the island. In 2018, three new species of Begonia were found in the isle.[37] The province of Northern Samar was described by Tiffany Neri of SunStar as one of the Philippines' "best-kept secrets" with numerous rock formations and wildlife sanctuaries.[38] On June 9, 2025, the Biri Rock Formations in Northern Samar were declared to be a National Geological Monument according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.[39]
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Demographics
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As of the 2024 census, the population of the island was 1,924,651 merged from the three provinces in the isle.[40] The main language in all three provinces of Samar Island is Waray. The second most popular language in Samar province is Bisaya, while the second most popular in Eastern Samar and Northern Samar is Cebuano. Samar province and Northern Samar both have a scale of 0.13 in the Linguistic diversity index while Eastern Samar has a scale of 0.02.[41] Many people in the island are part of the Waray people: in Eastern Samar, 97.78 percent of people were Waray while in Samar, 91.45 classified themselves as Waray. Other ethnic groups include Bisaya, Cebuano, and Tagalog. Males were more populated in both provinces than women.[42][43] As of the 2020 census, 1790014 people in the island are Roman Catholic, 1573 are Islam, and 14643 are part of the Iglesia ni Cristo church. In all three provinces, more than 90% of the population are followers of the Roman Catholic Church.[44][45]
Administrative divisions and politics
The island originally used to be a sole province. On June 19, 1965, a law passed splitting the province into three: Western Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar.[46] Since there are three provinces, there are three provincial governments with a governor each.[47] For the House of Representatives, Eastern Samar has one congressional district while Western and Northern Samar has two each, causing the island to have five districts.[48] The Philippines's 9th senatorial district encompassed Samar and Leyte which had two senators representing in the Senate of the Philippines with 24 representatives. The system was abolished in the early 1940s when the country was the Commonwealth of the Philippines.[49][50]
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Economy
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The island has a major copra industry: of the six provinces in Eastern Visayas, all three of the Samar provinces were placed in the top four based on copra production, just behind Leyte.[52] Western Samar's industry recorded a 6.1 percent increase from 2018 to 2023. The top three industries in the province are food service activities, transportation, and electricity, steam, water, and waste management. As of 2023, the gross domestic product of the province is PHP 61.35 billion.[53] The island has rice and root crops, including sweet potatoes and cassava. Abacá and dairy from native carabaos is found in the island.[32][54] In Eastern Samar, two house bills were filed to establish two separate coconut oil refineries.[55] Palay and banana crops are also made in the province; agro-industries are actively promoted. Fishery is a major livelihood in Eastern Samar's coastal communities, but it is experiencing a decline.[56] Northern Samar, meanwhile, has rice, corn, vegetables, and abaca. Municipal fisheries and tuna operations are also present in the province.[57] A commercial complex owned by Metro Retail Stores Group was planned to be created in 2019 in Catbalogan from a contract and was opened on August 30, 2024.[58][59] Samar is separated from the main island shipping routes. Iron ore, made from the southeast portion of the isle, is shipped from General MacArthur. There are also coal, phosphate, and chromite industries. Since Samar has many forests, logging and sawmill operations are also done in the eastern coastal towns. Catbalogan is a major commercial center in the island, serving as an important coastal port with fishing centers.[32]
Tourism
In 2015, the Samar Tourism Council encouraged tourists to visit attractions in Catbalogan as Governor Sharee Ann Tan held meetings with agency partners and the private sector to further boost tourism in Western Samar.[60] A One Town One Product (OTOP) center from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was launched in Calbayog on June 12, 2024.[61] During the "Benchmarking Tour" held by Eastern Samar officials in Cebu on February 9, 2023, the two provincial governments made a deal to organize a "tourism circuit" to increase tourism in the two provinces.[62] A DTI "Heritage Month Trade Fair" was held by the DTI provincial office of Northern Samar in Robinsons North Tacloban.[63]
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Infrastructure
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Transportation
A segment of the Pan-Philippine Highway is present in Samar, stretching from Northern Samar to Leyte in the western coast of the isle.[64][65] The N670 highway traverses through the northern and eastern coasts in the island, stretching through all three provinces, starting and ending from the Pan-Philippine Highway. Two other highways connect from the Pan-Philippine Highway to the N670 highway: the Catarman-Calbayog Road, which originates in Catarman and ends in Calbayog, and the Wright–Taft Road, stretching from Paranas to Taft. Another highway extends from the N670 highway to Guiuan.[65] Four major ports are in the island, namely the Port of Calbayog, the Port of Borongan, the Port of Guiuan, and the Port of San Isidro.[66] A flight route from Cebu to Catarman National Airport was launched on March 4, 2025, serviced by the Philippine Airlines.[67] Two weekly flight routes from Cebu to Borongan Airport were also launched in December 2022, also serviced by the Philippine Airlines.[68] Two airlines service at the Calbayog Airport, namely Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific; the former flies to Manila three times a week while the latter flies to Cebu two times a week.[69]
Power and telecommunication
Eastern Samar's electric distribution utility is the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO).[70] Two electric cooperatives serve Western Samar, namely: the Samar I and Samar II Electric Cooperative (SAMELCO).[71] Northern Samar's electric cooperative is the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative (NORSAMELCO).[72] The Philippines' first tidal plant is planned to be built in Catarman, Northern Samar by a private electricity firm, harnessing currents from the San Benardino Strait.[73] A Singaporean firm invested in a planned wind farm in the borders of the Western and Northern Samar provinces.[74] Solar power projects were planned in two towns in Western Samar.[75] In Taft, Eastern Samar, a hydropower plant is operated, with possibilities of it being a tourist site.[76] The main telecommunication companies serviced in the island are Smart Communications and Globe Telecom. New cell sites from both of the telecommunication operations were planned to be built in Northern Samar.[77][78] Over 100 cell sites were planned to be built in Northern Samar following a deal with Governor Edwin Ongchuan and PhilTower Consortium, an infrastructure provider.[79]
Education
Six Department of Education divisions are present in the island: three for each of the provinces, and one each for Borongan, Calbayog, and Catbalogan.[80] Major universities in Eastern Samar include the Eastern Samar State University and four other satellite campuses. In Northern Samar, the University of Eastern Philippines and two other satellite campuses are in the province. For Western Samar, two major universities are placed: the Samar State University with three satellite campuses, and the Northwest Samar State University with one satellite campus. Other local colleges are also in the three provinces.[81] For the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, three provincial training centers and five schools are placed in the island.[82]
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External links
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