Leyte to transform historic capitol into museum

LANDMARK The 106-year-old Leyte provincial capitol in Tacloban City, a landmark in the province, will soon become the repository of local history as it will be transformed into a museum.
—PHOTO COURTESY OF ROWEL MONTES

TACLOBAN CITY—The provincial government of Leyte is planning to transform its historic former capitol building located in this city into a World War II museum.

The 106-year-old structure, the postwar seat of the Philippine Commonwealth government, was damaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) on Oct. 8, 2013, and by an earthquake in 2019.

Some provincial offices still used parts of the building until 2021, the year it was vacated after the province began building its new capitol complex in a 14-hectare property in Palo town. The new complex was completed early this year.

According to Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla, they would need about P120 million for retrofitting and another P120 million to transform the structure into a museum.

“In Leyte, we have many World War II artifacts. Wartime memoirs are kept in houses. We need a proper place where we can store these artifacts. Veterans are dying, people are forgetting, and the only thing that will outlive all of us is the museum,” Petilla said in a recent interview. INQ