LOCAL AREA

Tacloban City

Tacloban City, the regional capital of Eastern Visayas, is home to the San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in the Philippines, and the site of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur’s landing, a monumental event during WWII.

Eastern Visayas is a region blessed with many of the Philippines’ most awe-inspiring natural sights including Kalanggaman Island’s insanely beautiful sandbar, the incredible rock formations of Biri Island, majestic waterfalls of Samar and alluring Sambawan Island in Biliran province.

Language

Filipino/Tagalog is the national language of the Philippines. Waray is the official language used in the local communities of Leyte province. English is also widely spoken.

Currency

The official currency in the Philippines is the Philippines Peso (PHP).  There are ATMs  15-30-minute drive from the base, so you will need to bring cash. There are many ATMs available in Manila and Tacloban, and larger stores in both cities will sometimes take cards. We recommend contacting your local banking institution to let them know you are traveling abroad in order to minimize any issues with using your bank card overseas.          

Gcash

There is a mobile app called gCash that acts like Venmo for the US. You register yourself and connect your credit card to transfer cash. Many places don’t accept cards but will accept gCash. You can send money via phone number to other Filipino numbers. 

Gcash doesn't accept transfers from all international banks. You can find a list of the gCash partner banks here. You can also use these services or paypal to transfer money into gCash. If your bank isn't accepted by gCash, and you can’t use any of the mentioned above methods,  you can go to a Palawan Pawnshop and Cebuana Lhuillier store and deposit cash into it. Make sure to wait to see if it's loaded into your account before leaving. 

You must have a Filipino SIM card in order to use this app.

How to move around the island? 

In the town and between the Barangays you can move around using multicabs/jeepnees, which serve as local buses, or tricycles that serve as taxis. Make sure to check direction signs to ensure you’re taking the right one. You can also ask the driver if it passes by the destination that you’re heading toward. 

In between the cities (eg. Tagpuro -Tacloban City v/v ), you can ride buses or vans. There are no designated bus stops unless you’re in a larger city (even there you’ll find a few), so you will have to ask the driver to stop (shout “paa!” or say “sa lugar lang”) or knock on the car body to indicate that you want them to stop. Some locals might make a kiss sound to indicate the driver to stop - don’t be surprised! 

To grab a bus/multi-cab/tricycle simply wave your hand at the driver and they will stop if there’s space. You pay directly to the driver, or if you are far from him then you can pass the money through people (just follow what locals do). If you’re on the bus, then you pay the conductor. Drivers will always try to squeeze as many people as they can so it might get very cosy. The fare varies depending on the length of the journey but generally, they are very low, the journey might cost as little as 8-10 PHP for a short distance. Make sure to always have some small coins and bills, because the driver might refuse to take a large bill if they don’t have change. 

This is what regular multi-cabs look like - they might have different colors. 

The warmest time of year is generally mid-March through June when highs are regularly around 31.5°C (88.7°F) with temperatures rarely dropping below 18.8°C (65.9°F) at night. 

Typically, during the day temperatures are high, often with high humidity. Temperatures drop in the evenings, between 18-20° C (64-67° F). Please remember to bring a lot of sunscreens and electrolytes to stay hydrated!

Prepare clothes for hot weather. You might occasionally need a jumper, and a raincoat could be handy between June and October/November, but there is no need for very warm clothes. We provide short-sleeved work shirts, but you should bring durable and comfy long shorts (knee-length or longer), comfortable light pants, or leggings for work. 

Please be aware that if you join the program during the Typhoon season you could experience some extreme weather conditions. We have contingency plans in place in case we have to evacuate to a safe place or stay in lockdown while the typhoon passes, but we need everyone to cooperate and follow the instructions to ensure everyone's safety. Please reach out to our team at philippinesrecovery@allhandsandhearts.org if you have any concerns about this. 

Where can I buy a mattress and boots before joining the program?

*Recommended size of mattress is 190 cm x 90 cm; and 10 cm thick

• In-store: downtown Tacloban called Uni City. 

UNICITY, Brgy. 6 Justice Romualdez St, Downtown, Tacloban City, 6500 Leyte

UNITOP - 42 Zamora St, Downtown, Tacloban City, 6500 Leyte

J & F - 6XPP+HR8, Tacloban City, Leyte

Boots usually cost 510 - 550 PHP, and mattresses cost around 1,200 PHP.

• Online

Volunteers can also buy them online as well at lazada.ph or shopee.ph with an expectation of having them delivered within 10 - 15 days. Here are the links for the specific products: Boots, and Mattress. 

Where can I buy fans?

There are a lot of stores downtown that sell different fans of different sizes: Electronics City - Abucay, a couple of stores inside Robinsons place like Emcor & Robinsons Appliance. There's also SM Appliance and ACE hardware in Savemore Marketplace, Leyte Home Depot, and Unitop.

On the islands of Samar and Leyte, there are several activities and attractions you can explore:

• Enjoy traversing in Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge Park in Basey Samar. You can enjoy caving and river adventure in an under the radar destination that is an hour away.

• Go surfing, explore Linao Cave, and enjoy the beach in Calicoan. A surfing destination with lovely locals located in Guiuan Samar, which is 3 hours away.

• Learn about Philippine history in Cebu which a lot of nations have either visited or occupied since the 16th Century. It is also a destination for diving and snorkeling. You may travel there via plane from Tacloban or via ferry from Ormoc.

• Visit nearby attractions: Leyte and Samar are filled with both beautiful destinations and historical places like Kalanggaman Island, San Juanico Bridge, Limasawa Island, Leyte Landing Memorial, Lake Danao National Park and Sto. Nino Shrine Heritage Museum.

Remember to check local travel advisories and guidelines, and respect the local customs and traditions during your visit.

Fun fact, Limasawa island located off the coast of Southern Leyte used to be a beloved go-to place for monthly breaks for AHAH staff and volunteers when we ran a project in Tacloban in the past. If you mention the name All Hands Volunteers (that’s what we used to be called in the past), some people might still recognize us :) 

You can also learn more about traveling around the Philippines from the following websites: 

Philippines.travel, Southern Leyte, Tacloban guide to best attractions

Backpackingwithabook.com - updated 2022 guide to travelling in the Philippines by a local

U.S. Embassy in the Philippines & UK Embassy in The Philippines - safety information, COVID-19 restrictions and more