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Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,924,651 as of the 2024 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided into three provinces: Samar (formerly Western Samar), Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar. These three provinces, along with the provinces on the nearby islands of Leyte and Biliran, are part of the Eastern Visayas region.
About a third of the island of Samar is protected as a natural park, known as the Samar Island Natural Park.
Many names, such as Samal, Ibabao, and Tandaya, were given to the island prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1596. During the early days of Spanish occupation, Samar was under the jurisdiction of Cebu. It later became part of Leyte in 1735 until its separation to become a distinct province named Samar in 1768. On June 19, 1965, through Republic Act No. 4221, Samar was divided into three provinces: Northern Samar, Samar province and Eastern Samar. The capitals of these provinces are, respectively, Catarman, Catbalogan, and Borongan. In commemoration of the establishment of these provinces, June 19 is celebrated as an annual holiday and many have the day off from work.
Samar is the easternmost island in the Visayas. It lies to the northeast of Leyte, separated from it only by the San Juanico Strait, which at its narrowest point is only about across; the strait is spanned by the San Juanico Bridge. And it lies to the southeast of the Bicol Peninsula on Luzon, separated from it only by the San Bernardino Strait.
To the south is Leyte Gulf, which in October 1944 became the site of one of the most consequential naval battles
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> "The Battle of Leyte Gulf". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved February 23, 2023. of World War II. And to the north and east of Samar lies the Philippine Sea, part of the Pacific Ocean.
In 1543, Datu Iberein with his official oarsmen approached a Spanish vessel anchored in his harbour. There is also a Samarnon saga that tells the story of Bingi of Lawan.
There are other principalities on the island such as Ibabao (or Cibabao), Achan, Camlaya, Taridola, and Candaya.
Years later, other Spanish expeditions arrived. The historian William Henry Scott wrote that a "Samar datu by the name of Iberein was rowed out to a Spanish vessel anchored in his harbor in 1543 by oarsmen collared in gold; while wearing on his own person earrings and chains." Scott recounted a Samarnon saga, which was called siday, about Bingi of Lawan, a prosperous settlement in Samar.
Samar also had names which are recorded in early Spanish sources, including Ibabao (or Cibabao), Achan, Camlaya, and Taridola. The Spanish captain Miguel Lopez de Legaspi also infamously called the island Tandaya, after mistaking the name of a lord with the name of the island (not to be confused with Datu Daya of northern Cebu). This was spelled by Miguel de Loarca as Candaya.
On September 28, 1901, Eugenio Daza, Area Commander of Southeastern Samar and Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief, launched an attack on U.S. Army Company C 9th Infantry Regiment who were occupying Balangiga. This action, commonly known as the Balangiga massacre, brought one of the only Filipino victories of the war and the worst American defeat in decades. In 1989, "Balangiga Encounter Day" was established as a provincial holiday in Eastern Samar to celebrate that victory.
The action resulted in the order during the pacification of Samar
"I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn; the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me ... The interior of Samar must be made a howling wilderness ..." — Gen. Jacob H. Smithwhich brought about the slaughter of thousands of Filipinos by American Marines.
In his history of the war, Brian McAllister Linn asserts "Samar cast a pall on the army's achievement and, for generations, has been associated in the public mind as typifying the Philippine War."
One of the infamous incidents of the Marcos dictatorship era was the September 15, 1981 Sag-od massacre in Las Navas, Northern Samar.
This era also saw the construction of the San Juanico Bridge between Samar and Leyte, which began as one of the high-visibility foreign-loan funded projects of Ferdinand Marcos’ 1969 reelection campaign, and finished four years later in time to be inaugurated on then-First Lady Imelda Marcos' birthday on July 2, 1973. The project was initially criticised as a white elephant by officials at the National Economic and Development Authority, noting that it was "useless and expensive to maintain", because its average daily traffic was too low to justify the cost of its construction. As a result, its construction has been associated with what has been called the Marcoses' "edifice complex" although economic activity in Samar and Leyte has since finally caught up with the bridge's intended function. At the time, its name was used as a slang term for one of the torture methods used by the Marcos dictatorship, in which a person is being beaten while the victim's head and feet lay on separate beds and the body is suspended as though to form a bridge.
/ref> Eighteeen security personnel of Juan Ponce Enrile's San Jose Timber Corporation - who were also members of the Special Forces of the Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF) allied with a paramilitary group called "the Lost Command" - ordered residents of Barrio Sag-od out of their homes and then opened fire on them. 45 men, women and children were killed, leaving only 13 inhabitants of Barrio Sag-od alive. It was also noted that a majority of the children in the Sag-od massacre died with their mothers while many others were reportedly killed due to their being unable to "stifle their cries of fear and terror" when Special Forces-ICHDF personnel were "marching them off for massacre".
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