STO NINO SHRINE MUSEUM

TACLOBAN CITY, PHILIPPINES

Who says you could only find castles and dream rooms in EUROPE?

The Santo Niño Shrine, one of the 29 presidential rest houses that the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos had built. There is an Olympic sized swimming pool behind the building.

The entrance to the Santo Niño Shrine. The Santo Niño is at the far end of the entrance. On both sides are a number of guest rooms with various themes.

Santo Niño, a representation of the infant Jesus Christ, is the patron saint of Leyte.


It is located in Real Street, Tacloban City. Paintings of the 14 stations of the Cross done by Filipino artists, wooden bas-relief of the legend of the First Filipino man-woman (Si Malakas at si Maganda); tastefully decorated guestrooms of varied Filipino motifs; image of the Holy Child; a collection of original paintings by Fernando Amorsolo; spacious ballroom; priceless. collector's.

some of the must see things inside are the antiques which was brought from different places. the mirrors, the statues, the furnitures, chandeliers, and the paintings.

13-room first floor has different unique themes that is on both sides and on the center is the

MACARTHUR PARK LEYTE GULF LANDING

PALO LEYTE, PHILIPPINES

Today we commemorate the 65th anniversary of the “MacArthur Leyte Landing”.

October 20, 1944: After weeks of heavy bombardment executed by American fighter planes and battle ships on the Leyte beach shores against the defending Japanese forces, the Sixth Army regiment of the combined USAFFE forces arrived at Red Beach in Palo, Leyte. By 1 PM, the combined Allied forces have established enough foothold around the beach area as well as the outskirts and terrains of Palo and Tacloban against the Japanese resistance. With a secured beachhead, the coast was cleared for the arrival of General Douglas MacArthur as he fulfilled his promise to liberate the Filipino people – in his own words, “I Shall Return”.

LAND MACARTHUR

The personalities that accompanied General MacArthur on his dramatic return on the Leyte shore were President Sergio Osmeña, General Carlos P. Romulo, Major General Basilio J. Valdes, and other key officers of USAFFE and the combined Allied liberating forces. After they arrived at around 1:30 PM, MacArthur addressed the following statement and was broadcasted nationwide via radio – “People of the Philippines, I have returned! By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.”

The return of General MacArthur in Leyte was a turning point of the Philippine liberation campaign during the Second World War primarily because it marked the first decisive win of

THE LEYTE PARK RESORT HOTEL

TACLOBAN CITY, PHILIPPINES

Built by former First Lady, Imelda Marcos in 1979, the hotel closed for 3 years until 1994 when it reopened following renovation and refurbishing. The Resort is now a major tourism and convention complex with its 6-hectare parkland nestled on a hill overlooking beautiful San Pedro Bay. It exudes the distinctive luxury of a hotel and the ambiance of a resort.

Leyte Park Resort Hotel offers the Discovery of various eco-tourism based tour activities anchored on its marine and terrestrial beauties, that covers a wide range of destinations from "islands to highland".
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LOCATION

The Leyte Park Resort Hotel is conveniently located in the heart of Tacloban City, 55 minutes from Manila by plane.

Road Directions/How to get to Leyte Park Resort Hotel
From Sumulong Highway facing East going to Cainta, turn left at Balanti bypass road, then left at Katipunan and right at Pio del Pilar.
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GUIUAN'S TREASURE CHEST, NATURAL WONDERS

GUIUAN EASTERN SAMAR, PHILIPPINES

 

THE 16TH CENTURY church of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and its belfry.

GUIUAN, Eastern Samar—Perhaps no other place in Eastern Visayas has been endowed with so much tourist attractions than the ancient town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar. Not only is it rich in history and culture but it also boasts of many natural wonders.

Thus, when Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim visited the province last month, he was impressed by what he saw in Guiuan: “a long white beach which can rival other beaches in the Philippines.” It has all the elements of a tourist come-on, he added.

Among Guiuan’s “treasures” is the 16th-century Immaculate Conception Church at the town proper. Originally made of wood, the structure was rebuilt by the priests and natives using stones after it was razed by fire.

It is within a 42-square-meter fortress, its corners mounted with artillery.

At that time, it was “the best and most regularly planned in all the Visayas” and that it “exceeds in grandeur the celebrated fort in Zamboanga.” But with the passage of time, the walls were destroyed.

Most of the church, including its belfry is still preserved, however.

National treasure

SHELL embellishment can be seen inside the baptistry of the church. 

According to Prof. Eric Zerrudo, an expert on cultural heritage and museum development, the Guiuan church has been declared a “national treasure church”—one of only 26 in the country.

“Guiuan, had there been a chance, should have been catapulted to a world heritage level. Why? It has a very high authenticity. Everything here is original. Everything has been left intact; (only) very few interventions,” Zerrudo says.

The church has a main altar and two altars along the nave. One has a retablo built by the Franciscans while the other has a rococo frontal built by the Augustinians.

Shell embellishments are seen in the baptistry, side altars, side windows and niches. Zerrudo

SAMAL ISLAND

DAVAO, PHILIPPINES

Samal island offers an unending fascination with its white-sand beaches, thick mangroves, coral reefs, rolling hills and rock formations. It is an archipelago of nine islands located in the Davao Gulf about 700 meters south of Davao City. An ideal model for resort and development, it provides a fabulous site for sunrise and sunset. Samal Island, like the rest of Mindanao, is outside the typhoon belt, and enjoys relatively calm weather. Its coastline is characterized by tall, swaying coconut trees, white-sand beaches, rock formations, mangroves, coral reefs, and small fishing villages — all suggestive of a tropical paradise.

Almost all of the beach areas have white sand, with widths varying from only a few meters to more than 10 meters. It provides ample space for picnic huts, reclining chairs for sun bathing, or for simply relaxing and enjoying the tropical scenery.

The water is crystal clear throughout the coastline, which varies in terrain from gently sloping sand beaches to steep cliffs and rock formations. The colors of the coastline at the beach areas transform itself from the green lush vegetation of coconut trees, to the white sandy beaches, to the dark blue color of the sea, with its deep waters and coral reefs.

BOHOL'S SPRING AND BEACHES

TAGBILARAN, BOHOL, PHILIPPINES

Bohol is one of the loveliest islands in southern Philippines. It is situated at the heart of Visayas and with coastline skimmed by gentle coves and white-sand beaches. Many highways snake along the sparkling beaches or leafy rivers where one can stop at any point and jump in.
With its rolling hills and plateaus, crystal springs and beaches, Bohol is a picturesque province replete with ancestral homes and centuries-old churches. It is composed of numerous isles  — Panglao, Pamilacan, Cabilao, Jao, Mahanay and Lapinin. The Chocolate Hills are but some of the many natural wonders in the province, which is home to the world's smallest monkey, the tarsier. The size of a fist, the tarsier lives on the hills of Corella, some 10 km from Tagbilaran. Other exotic flora and fauna may also be found in the forests of Bohol Island.

LAGUNA DE BAY (LAKE BAY)

LUZON, PHILIPPINES

Laguna de Bay (Lake Bay) is often erroneously called the "Laguna Lake". It is the largest lake in the Philippines. On the lake, there are an island, Talim, and two peninsulas jutting out a long way from the north coast. The lake is considered to have once been a branch of Manila Bay but later became separated from the bay by volcanic deposits and the upheaval of land. Water flows out from the northwestern end of the lake to Manila Bay. Since, the difference of water level between the lake and the sea is so small, the adverse tides occur frequently during the dry season from January to April.

Vast paddy fields, sugar cane fields and coconut plantations spread over the alluvial plain around the lake. Cash products like vegetables, fruits and poultry are also raised for consumption in neighboring big cities as Manila and Quezon City. The Laguna Lake Development Authority established in 1970 is mainly responsible for promoting development and conservation works in the lake and its drainage basin

MANILA DE BAY

MANILA CITY, PHILIPPINES

View of the famous Manila Bay Sunset from the Bay City in Pasay (near SM Mall of Asia)

The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world. It has an area of 1,994 km² (769.9 sq mi), and a coastline of 190 km (118.1 mi). The entrance is 19 km (11.8 mi) wide and expands to a width of 48 km (29.8 mi).Corregidor Island divides the entrance into two channels, about 2 miles (3.2 km) towards the North and 6.5 miles (10.5 km) wide on the South side. Mariveles, in the province of Bataan, is an anchorage just inside the northern entrance and Sangley Point is the former location ofCavite Naval Base.

On either side of the bay are volcanic peaks topped with tropical foliage: 40 km to the north is the Bataan Peninsula and to the south is the province of Cavite.

Across the entrance to Manila Bay are several islands. The largest is Corregidor, which is 3 kilometers from Bataan and, along with the island of Caballo, separates the mouth of the bay into the North and South Channels. In the south channel is El Fraile Island and outside the entrance, and to the south, is Carabao Island. El Fraile, a rocky island some 4 acres (1.6 ha) in

SIARGAO ISLAND

SURIGAO DEL NORTE, PHILIPPINES

Surigao del Norte is a medley island in the northeastern tip of Mindanao. A province that has managed to preserve its natural marvel through the years. On the eastern side of the province is Siargao Island, a hidden tropical jewel of the Pacific that hosts one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and home of wave surfing and the famous CLOUD 9, the latest sport and tourist attraction to take the country by storm It is the Surfing Capital of the Philippines. The best known surfing break now with a world reputation of being in the top Surfing Waves in the world, is nick-named "Cloud Nine". But there are literally scores of breaks down this coast, and every time a surfing expedition is mounted in the area, more new breaks are being discovered.

Siargao is a tear-drop shaped island situated 800 kilometers southeast of Manila in the province of Surigao del Norte. It has a land mass of approximately 437 kilometers. It has a land mass of approximately 437 kilometers. The east coast is relatively straight with one deep inlet-Port Pilar with a coastline marked by a succession of reefs, small points and white sandy beaches. There are similar neighboring islands and islets with similar landforms. The reefs and points are excellent for picking up any swell that comes along turning into clean, fast waves. The Island's Pacific-facing reefs are situated on the edge of the Philippine Trench, and the extremely deep offshore waters guarantee the ocean swells have undiluted power when they encounter the many coral and rock reefs, giving Siargao excellent surfing conditions, particularly during the southwest "habagat" monsoon from August to November, when the prevailing wind is offshore.

 Siargao Island, faces the Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Deep, the second deepest water in the world, at more than 11 km below sea level. The area is pure tropics with the plenty activities including snorkeling, island hopping, waterfalls, swimming holes and of course awesome waves and friendly locals.

This right-breaking reef wave is the site of the annual Siargao Cup, a domestic and international surfing competition sponsored by the provincial government of Surigao del Norte. The wave was discovered by travelling surfers in the late 1980's, and named and made well-known by American photographer John S Callahan, who published the first major feature on Siargao Island in the US based SURFER Magazine in March 1993, and hundreds of photos in many other books and magazines since. Callahan has returned to the island many times since his first visit in 1992, and his efforts to photograph and publish surfing related and general location material from Siargao islandin books and magazines around the world has put the island on the international map and drawn thousands of surfers and tourists to Siargao island.

 There are several other excellence waves on Siargao and nearby islands, but Cloud 9 has received more publicity than any other wave in the area, indeed in the Philippines as a whole. It is the only wave in the area easy to get to without a boat, leading to overcrowding and the nickname of "Crowd 9" among surfers worldwide as keen foreign and locally owned accommodation and tourist facilities attempt to profit from the magazine publicity and the annual arrival of visitors drawn by the Siargao Cup competition in September.

Siargao Islands contain the biggest mangrove forest reserves in Mindanao on the opposite coastline. Long stretches of wetlands equally indicate potentials for commercial seaweed

HUNDRED (100) ISLANDS

PANGASINAN, PHILIPPINES

The Philippines Hundred Islands Park is composed of big and small islands surrounded by fresh and salty water. Over 123 islands with an area of 1,1884 hectares. The hundred islands is located in Pangasinan one of Philippines provinces in North Luzon. It is one of the Philippines beautiful spots for tourism. 

 This is one of the visited places in the country when it comes to beaches and resorts. The islands are really amazing. It looks like they cast down purposely. The other perfect place to relax and enjoy the vacation. "The Top 10 most beautiful place to go" declared by the Manila Bulletin one of the leading news papers in the country.

It was December 23rd when I and my friends decided to go there. I was very excited because it would be my first time to go there.  When we got there, I really surprised. I exhaled and absorb

BAGUIO AND BANAUE RICE TERRACES

IFUGAO, BAGUIO, BENGUET, PHILIPPINES

The Banaue Rice Terraces of the Philippines have been said to be like the 8th wonder of the world. They were carved from the hillside by the tribes people of Ifugao about 2,000-3,000 years ago. The tribes people did this with their bare hands and crude implements, without using machinery to level the steps where they plant their rice, which is what makes this wonder so attractive, aside from the fact that the rice terraces are still used today.

This is considered to be one of the greatest engineering feats of mankind, because if each one were connected end to end, then they would reach halfway across the globe or be 10 times as long as the Great Wall of China. It was not until only 13 years ago (1995) that the Banaue Rice Terraces were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The rice terraces are like stepping stones stretching towards the sky, where some of them reach almost 5,000 feet in altitude and cover about 4,000 square miles of land. They are now beginning to show signs that they are eroding, and some of them need maintenance, while the Ifugaos’ new generation is migrating to nearby cities in search of better opportunities.

Even though it is about 8 or 9 hours from Manila in a car, the Banaue rice terraces are known to be one of the most spectacular places to see in the Philippines. They have transformed the Cordillera mountains of barren stone into ledges that are fit to grow rice.


Baguio City and Rice Terraces

Rising 1,500 meters above the sea, Baguio City enjoys a relatively cool weather throughout the year. Baguio City is at least eight degrees cooler than any place in the lowlands. Not surprisingly,

THE CHOCOLATE HILLS

BOHOL, PHILIPPINES

  

The Chocolate Hills, maybe Bohol's most famous tourist destinations. They look like giant mole hills, or as some say, women's breasts, and remind us of the hills in a small child's drawing. Most people who first see pictures of this landscape can hardly believe that these hills are not a man-made artifact.

However, this idea is quickly abandoned, as the effort would surely surpass the construction of the pyramids in Egypt. The chocolate hills

SAN JUANICO BRIDGE

TACLOBAN CITY LEYTE, PHILIPPINES

Asia's Longest Bridge - Leyte and Samar: Eastern Visayas, Philippines

Tacloban City link Sta. Rita, Samar

Built over the narrow San Juanico street, the San Juanico Bridge–which is 2.16 kilometerslong–still holds the record as the longest bridge in the Philippines.
The bridge connects Tacloban City on the Leyte side and the town of Sta. Rita on the Samar side. It crosses the San Juanico strait, reportedly the world’s narrowest since it’s only two kilometers wide at its most narrow point. Constructed in 1973 during the administration of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, the bridge is supported by 43 spans that rise 41 meters above the sea. The views from the bridge are fantastic and

SURF CAMP CALICOAN ISLAND

EASTERN SAMAR, PHILIPPINES


Guiuan, Eastern Samar
An idyllic tropical get away situated in ABCD Beach - Calicoan Island’s prime surfing area with landscape of virgin tropicalforests, unspoiled white sand - crystal clear water. Resort features an infinity pool fronting Pacific Ocean and 
luxurious cottages
fully equip with amenities needed by travelling public.

MACARTHUR PARK

PALO LEYTE, PHILIPPINES

MacArthur Landing Memorial is situated in Red Beach, Palo, Leyte. The monument marks the spot where General Douglas MacArthur landed with the American Liberation Forces in October, 1944 starting the Battle of Leyte.

The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrillas forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita from 17 October 1944 to 31 December 1944. The battle launched the Philippines campaign of 1944-45 for the recapture and liberation of the entire Philippine Archipelago and to end of almost three years of Japanese occupation.

BORACAY ISLAND

BORACAY, MALAY, AKLAN,  PHILIPPINES

Accommodation in Boracay 

Plan your vacation withBudget hotels and guest houses for inexpensiveaccommodation in Boracay. Mid-Range Hotels offer extra facilities and services for a more pampered vacation, with reasonable rates. In the Top End, you will find special places whereluxury and location combine to provide a truly memorable experience. You will find a variety of Boracay resorts and hotels to choose from native island style hideaways, to more exclusive high class vacation retreats. 
Boracay Tours and Activities

Tourists from all over the world are attracted to Boracay by the renowned white sand beaches and their underwater marine splendour. Of late, marine sports on the island have become a popular pasttime, and as the

SOHOTON CAVE

BASEY, SAMAR, PHILIPPINES

The Natural Bridge

Eco-Tourism ExperienceSohoton Cave,Basey, Samar

Eight hundred forty hectares nature reserve beckons with an endless array of subterranean

delights, caves, natural bridge of limestone boulders, underground rivers, and weathered formation rocks like Banaue Terraces – Great wall of China – Harem Pavilion – Amphitheater withnatural built in acoustical system and Seductive Courtesan’s Boudoir, a 30 ft. waterfalls to experience at the middle part of the forest, and a non-polluted man-made swimming poolstructure below the falls. Regular trips: 6:00 to 10:00 AM daily, soon a River Cruise provides totaladventure to SOHOTON NATURAL BRIDGE NATIONAL PARK open to everyone whowants to reach nature by experience...

The flight attendant is announcing that the airplane is landing at the airport of Tacloban City.The aircraft brings you to the coastal airport,