A long, long time ago, before the Spanish Era, the archipelago had no central government as it has today. The unit of government was called a barangay. A barangay or sometimes a confederation of barangays was ruled by a headman called Datu. Usually, the datus were independent of each other.
A peaceful village nestled along southern bank of Taverna River, opposite the site of the present town of Leyte, now called Barangay Elizabeth. In this village lived a brave datu named Datu Kandus. His beautiful wife was Hiraite. The datu loved his wife so dearly, that to perpetuate her name and to instill in his subjects the spirit of patriotism, he named his barangay Hiraite.
Datu Kandus ruled his people wisely, with the help of his wife. As the years glided along, changes took place. A drought occurred which lasted for more than a year. The great calamity brought havoc and miseries to the inhabitants. Many of Datu Kandus’ subjects died of hunger. To forestall the suffering of his people, Datu Kandus moved the site of the village to the sea coast, a place now called Rawis. He choosed this second site of his barangay because his people, could then be relieved of hunger by living on the products of the sea.