Why visit Taft
Townapedia lists 2 museums and landmarks, 4 parks and trails and 2 places to stay in and around town.
Weather in Taft
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Taft
Taft, officially the Municipality of Taft (Waray: Bungto han Taft; Tagalog: Bayan ng Taft), is a municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 18,692 people.
From the Wikipedia article Taft, Eastern Samar (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Museums and landmarks2
Parks, trails and playgrounds4
Where to stay2
Churches and places of worship3
History
Taft is one of the ancient pueblos in Samar situated in the eastern coast which was called Tubabao or Tubabaw in early times. This town was originally named after the river called Malinaw, but since the river causes heavy floods during rainy season, people began calling the place Tubig, which means water in Waray-Waray.
On October 23, 1903, the municipalities of Paric (present-day Dolores), San Julian, and Sulat were merged into Tubig, which was also renamed Taft after the Governor-General of the Philippines at the time, William Howard Taft. These three municipalities were separated from Taft and restored to their independent statuses on October 31, 1906.
In 1965, following the Samar division plebiscite, Taft became part of the newly established province of Eastern Samar.
From the History section of Taft, Eastern Samar on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gas and EV charging9
Schools, colleges and libraries47
Healthcare4
Map of Taft
71 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (TAC) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 86 km away.
- Mantang 4 km south, about 4 min by car
- Can-Avid 11 km north, about 11 min by car
- Sulat 11 km south, about 11 min by car
- Nena 15 km south, about 15 min by car
- Dolores 17 km northeast, about 17 min by car
- San Julian 17 km south, about 17 min by car
- Borongan 33 km south, about 33 min by car
- Catbalogan 60 km west, about 1 h by car
- Tacloban 86 km southwest, about 1 h 30 min by car
- Laoang 86 km northwest, about 1 h 30 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Openverse (see each image): photos
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- St. James the Greater Parish Church Facade, 0227adina, CC BY-SA 4.0
- ISS045-E-28475 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- No Known Restrictions: Supreme Court with William Howard Taft (LOC), pingnews.com, Public domain
Page built November 7, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.