TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte
– “The name of my province is
Samar, not
Western Samar.” Thus, wrote Congressman Catalino V. Figueroa of the
2nd District of Samar, to the Philippine Information Agency.
Congressman Figueroa
made the clarification in reaction to some printed documents in some
government offices bearing the name
Western Samar.
He said that the name
of the province as Samar is embodied in Republic Act 5650 passed
during the 6th Congress, the 27th day of January 1969 and signed by
then Speaker of the House of Representatives Jose B. Laurel, Jr. and
then Senate President Gil J. Puyat.
Republic Act 5650 is
an act changing the name of the
Province of
Western Samar
to Samar.
Congressman Figueroa
requested the Philippine Information Agency to inform the public and
the government offices so that they can make the necessary corrections
as to the name of the Province.
The people of Samar
are in need of a true identity as regards the real name of their
province, Congressman Figueroa noted.
He added that he will
be writing other national government offices and government owned and
controlled corporations so that they too will be properly informed.
Many names (Samal,
Ibabao, Tandaya) were given to
Samar Island
prior to the coming of the Spaniards in 1596. The name
Samar was derived from the local dialect “samad”, meaning wound or
cut, which aptly describes the rough physical features of the island
that is rugged and deeply dissected by streams.
During the early days
of Spanish occupation, Samar was under the jurisdiction of Cebu. In
1735, Samar and Leyte were united into one province with Carigara,
Leyte as the capital town and again Samar became a separate province
in 1768.
The province of Samar
comprised the whole Samar Island before the approval of Republic Act
4221 on June 19, 1965 which divided the island into three provinces:
Northern Samar, with Catarman as capital; Eastern Samar, with Borongan
as capital; and Western Samar (officially known as Samar) with
Catbalogan as capital. It is composed of twenty five (25)
municipalities and one city (Calbayog City). It has a total of nine
hundred fifty two (952) barangays.
In 1969, through
Republic Act 5650, the province’s name was changed to
Samar instead of
Western Samar.
