Leyte Provincial Capitol Postcards

The postcard shows the Leyte Provincial Capitol in Tacloban City which is the seat of the provincial government of Leyte. Construction of the capitol started in 1918 (i), and completed and inaugurated in 1924. The capitol sports a neoclassical architectural style typical of American-era government edifices. It was the seat of the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines when President Sergio Osmena, Sr., came in 1944 with the World War II Liberation Forces.

Leyte Provincial Capitol Postcard

The original edifice was renovated, expanded and beautified in 1964. Two bas reliefs can be found on both sides of the capitol: a depiction of the "first mass" on Limasawa Island (unveiled on March 31, 1965) and the landing of Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Red Beach, Palo, Leyte (unveiled on October 20, 1964).

Leyte Provincial Capitol Postcard 2
with MacArthur landing mural

SOURCES:
Leyte Provincial Capitol Building
The Neo-Classical Leyte Provincial Capitol

(i) The Imperial Tapestry: American Colonial Architecture in the Philippinesby Norma I. Alarcon, Fuap, page 117