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Burauen is one of the biggest towns in Leyte and has become prominent for being the birthplace of one of the country's great men, the late Justice Norberto Romualdez.

The town is situated on the eastern part of Leyte at the foot of the mountain range that divided the province into east and west.

Burauen started as a settlement on the slope of Bongtod Hill, near the river of Bura-Buron. The Augustinian Friar, Fr. Velasquez, on an apostolic journey, came to this settlement in 1580. When his party came to the place, he reportedly asked the natives the name of the place. The natives who were ignorant of the Spanish language thought that the foreigners were asking for the name of the river and they answered, "Bura-Buron." From this time on, the place became known as Bura-Buron.

Two Jesuit fathers, Fr. Pedro Chirino and Fr. Pereira, urged the people who were scattered in the settlement, to form a community in September 1595. This was the start of the growth of the settlement.

Legend says that in the early days, two brothers named Tamdon and Hangdon organized the settlement in a place known as Armasen. Armasen sat on the banks of the Guinarona river which divided the present towns of Burauen and Dagami. Heavy typhoons, however, made Armasen untenable, so the settlement was transferred to Malabca.

Moro raiders ravaged the new settlement under the leadership of Hangdon. However, his men were able to drive the invaders away but the danger from future raids made them look for a place which they could defend better. At first they moved to Laguiuan but the difficulty of the water supply made them move once more to Lusad near the Daguitan River. In the new site, the settlers had 30 years of peace and progress.

Because of commerce which now flourished between the new settlement and neighboring towns, the people petitioned the gobernadorcillo of Dagami that the sitio be officially made into a barrio. The request was approved and the new barrio was immediately made a dependency of Dagami.

During a long period of drought that dried up the rivers and the lakes in the vicinity of the barrio, people went far and wide looking for a source of water supply. On August 30, a spring was found three kilometers away from Cantimawa. They called the spring after Sta. Rosa of Lima on whose feast day the spring was discovered. Another spring was discovered by another group which they called "Burabod" or "source spring."

People from Dulag, Tanauan and Dagami flocked to the village to fetch water. Soon the barrio was well-known as "Bura-on" or "foamy" because of the little geysers that made the waters of the spring foam and boil. Others began to settle in Bura-on after applying for tenancy from the landowners of the barrio.

The name was later changed to Burawon and this is how the old people of the present town still fondly call it today.

A typhoon which caused the Daguitan River to overflow, changing its course towards the town, almost leveled the settlement. A meeting was called and it was decided to transfer farther away from the river and on a higher elevation. An area belonging to Mariano Somorong was chosen and the area was graciously donated by Somorong and his immediate heirs.

For a time Burawon was called Kansomorong (belonging to Somorong) although officially the name "Burawon" appeared in the records.

Capitan Agustin Ezequias, who was the presidente of the barrio laid down the plans for the first four principal streets of the town. With the help of the Jesuits, they built a church and a "tribunal." This happened from 1750 to 1766.

In 1766, the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines and the bishop of Cebu sent the Augustinians to administer the faith of the people. On June 3, 1804 the parish was placed under the protection of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary through the efforts of Fr. Pedro Gomez.

A church was constructed under Fr. Francisco Lopez but this was destroyed during World War II and this became the project of Fr. Sergio Osmena, the parish priest. The church was 186 feet long and 48 feet wide and was at the time considered one of the biggest churches in Leyte.

The main industry at the time was the selling of sulfur for the production of gunpowder in Manila. This mineral was extracted from Sierra Manakagan, especially at the crater of Kasiboi where the sulfur boiled and erupted in hot spurts.

Burawon became the last bulwark of defense of the Leyte forces under Gen. Mojica, during the Philippine-American war. Percuhun, an area not far from the town is still considered the Biak-na-bato of Leyte as it was here that the revolutionists pledged to fight the American invaders to the last drop of their blood.

In April 1900, American forces from Dulag engaged the Filipino defenders in which the Filipinos, despite their crude weapons showed great skill and heroism. The superiority of American arms proved disastrous to the defenders who had to retreat in good order.

After the Americans left in May of the same year, the remnants of the Filipino defenders returned to town and burned everything in their path except the church and the convento.

Major Henry F. Allen, the military commander of the area called the town leaders to a meeting in January 1901, making Pablo Timonera the first municipal president.

No sooner had the people started the task of rebuilding their homes when a new menace -- the dreaded "pulahans" -- entered the town and set the municipio on fire. The heroic Governor de Veyra personally led the expedition that caused the disorganization of this group of bandits.

When liberation came in 1945 after the Second World War, it meant the start of a new era for this town. But liberation was not bought cheaply for many Burawanons gave up their lives for their country.