The Boy Scout Monument and MacArthur Landing Memorial Park

From the town proper of Palo, Leyte, I rode a jeepney bound for Tacloban City and told the driver to drop me off at Campitic Crossing. The fare is 8php. Once there at the crossing, tricycles and traysikads tried to made offers of a ride going to the MacArthur Landing Site which was around 2 kilometers away. Anyway, since I was fond of walking and was planning to make a stop at the Boy Scout Monument along the way, I decided to walk. Yup, under the heat of the sun at around 1:00PM.

The walk was not that bad though as there were some trees on the side for some parts of the road. Along the way, one could see the various government offices (DepEd, DPWH, COA, etc.) of the province of Leyte as this area is also considered their government complex. After about a kilometer walk, I reached the Boy Scout Monument, the very first boy scout monument ever erected in the world in human form.

The area of the Boy Scout Monument is a round land area almost as big I think of the Quezon Memorial Park in Quezon City. From the marker below the monument, it states that the 2002 Boy Scout Jamboree was held there. The area now is left as it is, with no buildings or houses, perhaps preserve for another big event next time.

Another kilometer walk, I reached the MacArthur Landing Site Memorial. 

It was here where Gen. MacArthur landed on 1945 with a mission to liberate the Philippines. Outside the main park are stalls selling pineapples which they said was a must try. But since my father is a pineapple farmer himself, and my family seemed to have eaten pineapples like eternity, I passed on buying one.

On both sides across the memorial site are also small stalls with tables and chairs selling souvenirs and food, so I made a stop and had lunch there. Behind the stalls was a small forest so the air was so nice helping me cool down from the long walk. The downside of the area though was that wrappers and plastics were just thrown by locals and tourists on the street, minimizing the beauty of the park. I hope the officials of the barangay and the park could do something about it.

After eating, I went to enter the park and finally came face to face with Gen. MacArthur; his statue that is. The statues of MacArthur and his supposed to be soldiers and aides are in a small pond (no fish). I wonder if it was cleaned regularly against mosquito larvae. For years, I have thought that MacArthur’s statue is just man-sized but when some kids and teenagers walk to the middle of the pond to have their pictures taken, it was then I realized that the height of the statue is two times the height of a regular Filipino.

There was a man on the side offering to take pictures for 50php with free use of boots for tourists to walk to the center of the pond. But since I was on a budget trip, I declined politely the offer and just used my tripod instead. Haha! But if you happen not to bring your camera with you or would love to stand next to MacArthur, you can always find him there at the park almost every day, and the picture/s could be given to you in just minutes, he said.

Behind the memorial site is the ocean with the view of Samar and other parts of Leyte. I saw some locals going swimming. It was not a white beach, but it was clean and trees on the side offered nice shades for a picnic.

After exploring the area, I exited the site and looked for a traysikad to bring me back to the highway. I had enough of the long walks. Traysikad fare was 10php. At the crossing, I rode a jeepney bound for Tacloban downtown and got off at Robinsons mall (8php) to look for my ref magnet souvenir.

Next Stop: Tacloban City Accommodations