Biliran

Biliran was historically part of Leyte, and its settlement patterns reflect the broader Visayan migration and community-building that characterized the region. The name may come from borobiliran, a grass that grew on the island's plains, or from bilir, an old Visayan word for the edge or corner of something.

The province's recent history has been shaped by the challenge of infrastructure development on a small island with limited revenue, and by the ongoing threat of extreme weather events in a region that catches typhoons with regularity.

Biliran belongs to the Eastern Visayas cultural region, and its people share much with the Waray of Leyte and Samar, while the western towns speak Cebuano. The island's small scale creates a community where most families have connections across municipal lines.

Festivals

Biliran shares in the festival traditions of Eastern Visayas, such as the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Tacloban, which commemorates the ancient Visayan practice of tattooing — pintados meaning 'painted ones,' the name the Spanish gave to Visayans they found covered in intricate tattoo work. The festival features street dancing with body painting and traditional costume.

Fishing Communities

Coastal communities on Biliran depend on the sea in the traditional sense — small-boat fishing, fish traps, and net fishing in the surrounding waters. Most towns, especially Naval and Biliran, have good seaports, and brackish-water fishponds produce prawns, shrimp and milkfish. Fish from Biliran waters appear in markets on the Leyte mainland.

Waray food — the cuisine of Biliran and the broader Eastern Visayas — is built on seafood, coconut milk, vinegar, and a general simplicity that comes from coastal agricultural communities eating what they catch and grow. The province is not known for elaborate preparations, but the quality of the raw ingredients is high.

Waray-Waray and Cebuano are the main languages of Biliran. Cebuano is spoken mainly in Naval, Almeria and Kawayan, on the western side, and Waray in the other towns. Waray is shared with Leyte and Samar. It belongs to the Central Philippine branch of Austronesian and is closely related to Cebuano and Hiligaynon but distinct from both.

Biliran's first town was once under Cebu, and Cebuano and Waray speakers live side by side. Filipino and English are used in education and government.

Waray oral literature includes epic poems and narrative traditions associated with the ancient Visayan tattooed warrior culture. The Pintados tradition — the body painting and warrior culture of pre-colonial Eastern Visayas — is reflected in language, in festival practice, and in the cultural identity of the region.

Biliran is reached through Tacloban in Leyte — fly to Tacloban, then take a bus or van across the bridge at Biliran town. The island can be explored by rented motorcycle or by tricycle from Naval. There is no commercial airport on the island. Accommodation is basic and limited; there are a handful of small hotels in Naval.

Waterfalls of Biliran

The island is full of falls. Bagongbong (Bagumbong) Falls is in a forested area of Almeria; Ulan-ulan Falls, named for the Visayan word for rain, has a basin deep enough to swim in; Recoletos Falls is about 15 meters high with a wide, deep pool; and Kasabangan Falls drops in 13 tiers. Tomalistis Falls is another well-known cascade.

Maripipi Island

A small volcanic island municipality northwest of Biliran, reached by pump boat from Naval. Mount Maripipi rises to 924 meters, and the island is a quiet day trip.

Biliran is a volcanic island of steep forested hills that rise to Mount Suiro, 1,301 meters, with many waterfalls and hot springs. Only Naval and Caibiran have wide plains. Its mammals were surveyed together with those of Leyte and Maripipi in the early 1990s. Flying foxes roosting on Maripipi have been tracked crossing more than 12 kilometers of sea to feed on Biliran, a sign of how closely the small islands are tied together.

Philippine Tarsier

Carlito syrichta

Near Threatened

One of the world's smallest primates, with huge eyes and long fingers. Besides Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao, it is found on small islands in its range, including Maripipi.

Field note: Tarsiers are easily stressed. Never handle them or use flash photography.

Golden-crowned Flying Fox

Acerodon jubatus

Endangered

One of the largest bats in the world, found only in the Philippines. Flying foxes that roost on Maripipi have been tracked flying more than 12 kilometers to feed on Biliran.

Field note: Do not disturb roosts. Hunting and forest loss are the main threats.

An Island at the Edge

Nobody is quite sure where the name Biliran comes from. Many books say it comes from borobiliran, a grass that once grew thick on the island's plains. Others point to bilir, a word in an old Visayan dictionary for the edge or corner of something, like the rim of a boat or a furrow made by a plow. Either way, the name was in use by the late 17th or early 18th century.

For most of its history the island was an edge itself, on the northern rim of Leyte. Its first town, also called Biliran, was founded in 1712 under Cebu. In May 1754 raiders from the south burned that town and Catbalogan in Samar; only the town's gobernadorcillo escaped capture, and the old settlements of Caybiran, Mapuyo and Maripipi were also destroyed. Watchtowers on the coast still recall those years.

In 1939 the island reminded its people that it is a volcano: a steam blast at a thermal area sent ash over Caibiran. In the war that followed, Biliran's guerrillas worked with Colonel Ruperto Kangleon's Leyte command, and in 1945 Commonwealth troops and local fighters drove out the Japanese garrison.

Biliran became a sub-province of Leyte in 1959 and its own province in 1992. Today a bridge over Poro Island links it to Leyte, and the waterfalls of Almeria, Caibiran and the other towns draw hikers, canyoneers and swimmers.