Tolosa, Leyte
| Tolosa | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 Map of Leyte with Tolosa highlighted |
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 Tolosa
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| Coordinates: 11°02′N 125°01′E / 11.033°N 125.017°ECoordinates: 11°02′N 125°01′E / 11.033°N 125.017°E | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Eastern Visayas (Region VIII) |
| Province | Leyte |
| District | 1st district of Leyte |
| Barangays | 15 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Erwin C. Ocaña |
| Area | |
| • Total | 22.54 km2 (8.70 sq mi) |
| Population (2015 census) | |
| • Total | 20,978 |
| • Density | 930/km2 (2,400/sq mi) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
| ZIP code | 6503 |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)53 |
| Income class | 5th municipal income class |
| 083749000 | |
| Electorate | 13,667 voters as of 2016 |
| Website | elgu |
Tolosa is a 5th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 20,978 people.
It is located 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of Tacloban City.
Tolosa is politically subdivided into 15 barangays.
According to popular beliefs, Tolosa derived its name from a legend about three chieftains (datus) who united their chiefdoms. According to the legend, the area that is now Tolosa was ruled by three great datus: the datu of fishing, the datu of harvest and the datu of hunting. Typical of chiefdoms in those times, the three datus regard each other with hostility. One time a great battle broke out among the three of them. Their people fought valiantly in defense of each datu. But the three datus were strong they could not defeat each other. Accidentally they were hit by their own swords and they died. Their blood spilt everywhere. Then came a great earthquake followed by a tsunami. When the floodwaters subsided, three promontories rose on three sides of the three datus' lands, as if acting as defensive walls of the contiguous land. Survivors of the great battle realized that the three hills were their great datus who were now united in protecting them from outside dangers. From three (tolo) they became one (usa).
Tolosa was once part of the nearby municipality of Tanauan. Magdaleno Vivero and Domingo Camacho petitioned the Spanish Government to grant Tolosa autonomy from Tanauan. The petition was approved in 1852, resulting in great jubilation among the new town's inhabitants. The town's residents, however, continued to call a nearby promontory Inapusong after the town's old name. Spanish officials named the town in honor of Tolosa, a town in Old Spain. The town was formally founded in 1861 and became a parish on February 12, 1863. Its first parish priest was Padre Geronimo Asenjo, a Spaniard. The first Filipino priest of the parish was Father Quintin Bautista. In 1910, a plan to abolish the municipality worried its inhabitants. Owing to the efforts of Captain Daniel Romualdez, grandfather of the late Speaker Daniel Z. Romualdez, the plan to return Tolosa to the care of Tanauan was averted.
During the liberation of the Philippines in 1944, Tolosa and its north eastern neighboring towns were spared from bombardment by the United States and Philippine Commonwealth forces when Eagle Scout Valeriano Abello of barangay San Roque, including two other identified scouts braved Japanese sniper fire and directed US and Filipino fire to the exact location of Japanese batteries along Leyte's north-eastern coast. Abello's act saved the lives of thousands of Leytenos and allowed the Filipino Soldiers and Allied Forces unhampered landing on the coast. This unhampered attack dealt the blow that broke the back of the Japanese resistance in Leyte, and ultimately The Philippines.
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