Regional Office Profile

The Eastern Visayas Region is the largest Region in Visayas with a total land area of 2,143,169 hectares.

It is composed of the main islands of Leyte, Samar and Biliran and consists of six provinces: Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Biliran. There are seven (7) cities in the Region with Tacloban City being the Regional Capital, the others are Ormoc City, Baybay City, Maasin City, Calbayog City, Catbalogan, and Borongan City. It has a population of 4, 440, 150 as of 2015. The major language is Waray-Waray while Cebuano, Boholanos, and Abaknon are spoken in some parts of the region.

Seated between Luzon and Mindanao, the Eastern Visayas is the gateway to both island groups with the pan-Philippine Highway traversing through Samar and Leyte which are connected by the famous San Juanico Bridge.

Through the years, PDEA Regional Office VIII has remained steadfast in the delivery of its services to the people of Eastern Visayas, effectively meeting its mandate and cementing its commitment to the eradication and control of the illegal drug menace in the area of jurisdiction.

To achieve its cherished vision of a highly credible and competent Agency leading the citizenry to a drug-free country, PDEA seeks to enforce Republic Act 9165 with full emphasis and observance of the Agency’s three- pronged approach: supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction.

This intensified and sustained effort persists as we enter the first quarter of 2020. For the month of January, PDEA RO VIII continues to make its presence felt in the entire Eastern Visayas region, from the cities of Tacloban, Ormoc, Baybay, Calbayog, Maasin, Catbalogan and Borongan,to the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar.