THE HISTORY OF LEYTE, PHILIPPINES Pre-colonial period
THE HISTORY OF LEYTE, PHILIPPINES Pre-colonial period The island was known to 16th-century Spanish explorers as Tandaya. Its population grew rapidly after 1900, especially in the Leyte and Ormoc valleys. The island was once the location of Mairete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete. Before being colonized by Spain, the island was once home to indigenous animist Warays to the east and other indigenous animist Visayan groups to the west. Colonial period Leyte was once labeled as Ceylon in early Spanish maps of the Philippines[4] and in the 1700s, was home to 38 Spanish Filipino families and 7,678 native families.[5]: 113 World War II Leyte is most famous for its role in the reconquest of the Philippines in World War II. The province was utilized by the Japanese as a hub for sexual slavery. Some sex slave sites included Tacloban and Burauen, where the Japanese kidnapped girls, teenagers, and young adults and forced them into becoming sex slaves under the brutal "...