AS described by the Department of Tourism website, "Southern Leyte is exactly like a lady. She's pretty on the outside, but the secret she hides within her makes her even more beautiful."

Only a few Filipinos living outside the Eastern Visayas are familiar with one of the least populated provinces in the country, Southern Leyte. You may have heard of the Samar province and the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc. What of Southern Leyte? I suppose it sounds new to you. I tell you, Southern Leyte isn't only a lady. She is a beautiful blue and ravishing green lady.

With one side of it facing the mighty Pacific Ocean and lavished with dense rainforests, Southern Leyte is a unique province, one of a kind. Its God-chosen geographical position and intact thick forests enable Southern Leyteños to live in bounty and prosperity. If you live uphill or near the seashore, its abundant natural resources give you sustenance. As a result, people here are spoiled with an array of livelihood opportunities such as farming, fishing, poultry, livestock and many more.

We are even considered as one of the country's largest coconut producers. When you get a chance to travel the scenic roads or visit mountain farms on our land, coconut trees are a ubiquitous presence. In fact, tourists are usually offered fresh young coconut juice when they find themselves passing by when people are harvesting coconuts. Due to the feasibility of this type of livelihood, it is said that more than 30,000 hectares of land across the province are cultivated for coconut farming.

We are also known for fisheries, taking into account that our boundaries are limited by the sea and the Pacific Ocean. In fact, one of the four regions in Southern Leyte is called "Pacific" since the municipalities of this area face the Pacific Ocean. Fishing is therefore the major livelihood in the province. Not only in the Pacific area alone, but in the remaining areas: Maasin, Macrohon, Padre Burgos; Sogod Bay; and Panaon. Southern Leyte is able to maintain the plethora of fish harvest because its people adhere to the local policies that seek to protect our marine resources, and that enables us to sustain our fish sanctuaries and respect marine biodiversity.

The province has a great number of tourist sites, too. Each municipality has something for which it can be proud. Mostly, these tourist attractions are in the form of bodies of water like white-sand beaches, islands and refreshing springs. To mention just a few, there are the majestic twin barangay islands of San Pablo and San Pedro in Hinunangan. Its white-fine sands and crystal-clear waters tempt you to dive right in. Next, the Tagbak Marine Park in Liloan where you can enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling and other forms of water activities. Lastly, as there won't be enough space to mention all the beaches and marine sanctuaries, the Tangkaan Beach in Padre Burgos where you will be amazed at the glittering surface of the waters.

The billion-peso Agas-Agas Bridge in Sogod is also in Southern Leyte. The enormous infrastructure is the tallest ever bridge to be constructed in the Philippines. People come here not only to marvel at the epic work of engineering that is the bridge but also at the thick forests that surround it. Next are the hundred impressive caves of Cambaro in Macrohon. Stalactites, stalagmites and other stunning rock formations will leave you perplexed about how Mother Nature carved the rocks. There is the historic Santo Niño Church in Malitbog, built in the 1850s. Manually constructed during the Spanish colonial period, the church caters to thousands of devotees, especially after its original century-old image was recovered after 32 years by their now adopted Malitboganon, Mr. Francis Ong. Finally, the Hanginan in Maasin, to which thousands of pilgrims flock every month. The locals say that the miraculous Señor San Francisco Javier, the patron saint of the pilgrim site, is believed to grant prayers of healing for the sick and good voyage for seafarers going to sea.

Above all, the good values of the people of Southern Leyte will undoubtedly make you fall in love with the place. Our being welcoming and congenial are, I think, what make us distinct. This can be further attested to by most of the foreigners and local tourists who come to visit us. We don't treat them as strangers or aliens but as a "ka-probinsyano." Also, our love and care for nature is innate. We put prime importance to our forests and other natural resources because we believe that the good condition of these divinely bestowed gifts to us reflect the kind of people living in the land. Hence, such tourist attractions would not endure without the utmost protection and prudence we put in them.

As community quarantine restrictions loosen and as borders start to open, I hope you will include Southern Leyte in your list of places to visit, and the things I tell you about it will make you choose Southern Leyte even more!

Marlon P. Labastida

Email: marlonlabastida121379@gmail.com

Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/08/29/opinion/columns/why-choose-southern-leyte/1812714