The Leyte Provincial Capitol in Tacloban dates back to the American colonial administration. The construction of the building began in 1917 during the administration of then-Leyte Governor Salvador Demeterio and was completed and inaugurated in 1924 during the tenure of Leyte Governor Honorio López.[1]
Antonio Mañalac Toledo designed the building in a neoclassical style, featuring a colonnade with two rows of ten Ionic columns. Sculptor Vidal Tampinco executed the ornamental details and reliefs.[2] The capitol complex hosts a main structure with a legislative building behind it.[3]
During the World War II era, the building sustained damage when the Imperial Japanese forces occupied the Philippines in the 1940s.[1] The building also became the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth government from October 23, 1944, to February 27, 1945, as the Allied forces liberated the Philippine islands from Japanese control. Sergio Osmeña was sworn in as President by American general Douglas MacArthur inside the building.[3]
The capitol underwent renovations in 1964 during the tenure of then-Leyte Governor Norberto Romualdez Jr.[1]
During the administration of Leyte Governor Leopoldo Petilla, there were plans to move to seat of government of Leyte to Palo after Tacloban was elevated into a highly urbanized city.[4] In 2013, the building was hit by storm surges caused by Typhoon Haiyan, which was locally known as Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines.[1] In 2015, Governor Petilla expressed plans to convert the building into a museum while still retaining the capitol as a meeting place for dignitaries.[4]
In May 2019, the provincial government of Leyte, under the administration of Governor Leopoldo Petilla, abandoned the capitol after it sustained further damage due to the magnitude 6.4 Visayas earthquake of April 23, 2019. Even if retrofitting has been made on the building, the Leyte government decided to pursue its plans of building a new capitol in Palo and convert the original capitol into a museum.[1]
It has been declared a National Historical Landmark
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