Tacloban

Tacloban is the regional center of Eastern Visayas and the largest city and capital of Leyte. Although geographically situated within Leyte and grouped with the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority, it is administratively independent.

Tacloban briefly served as the capital of the Philippines under the Commonwealth government from October 20, 1944, to February 27, 1945. In a survey released by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center in 2010, it ranked fifth among the country's most competitive cities and second among emerging cities. The city was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan on November 8, 2013, having previously suffered similarly destructive typhoons in 1897 and 1912. On January 17, 2015, Pope Francis visited Tacloban during his apostolic visit to the Philippines and celebrated Mass at Barangay San Jose and Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport.