Vicente Lukbán

Lukbán was born in Labo, Ambos Camarines (now part of Camarines Norte) on February 11, 1860 to Agustin Lukbán of Ambos Camarines and Andrea Rilles of Lucban, Tayabas. He is the brother of Justo Lukbán. He completed his early education at Escuela Pia in Lucban, continued his studies at Ateneo Municipal de Manila, and took up Bachelor of Laws at the University of Santo Tomas and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

In 1886, he resigned his position as a justice of the peace to form Coorporation Popular, an agricultural and commercial cooperative based in Bicol aimed at promoting the business activities of small and medium scale producers in order to increase their income from the lands by selling their products without passing through middle men.[1] He married Sofía Dízon Barba and the union produced four children: Cecilia, Félix, Agustín, and Vicente, Jr. Sofía died after their last child was born. Lukbán then left his children in the care of his siblings so that he could devote his time to the cause of the revolution.

Lukban had been inducted into Freemasonry, Luz de Oriente ("Light of the Orient") in 1884. The organization had attracted many intellectuals and middle-class Filipinos to its ranks. Part of the profits of the cooperatives were secretly remitted to the revolutionary movement of Andrés Bonifacio, the Katipunan. The cooperative also served as an effective covert means of spreading the ideals of the revolution. Their members could move around freely without arousing the suspicion of the Spanish authorities.

By 1896, Lukbán had centralized the funds of the cooperatives into the coffers of the revolution. He periodically remitted money to the evolving revolutionary movement. At the same time, he acted as an emissary of the Katipunan unit in Bicol to gather information about the Spanish movements in Manila and to determine how such movements affected Bicol provinces. On one of his trips to Manila, he was arrested by the guardia civiles, ("civil guards") and charged with conspiring to overthrow the government, imprisoned in Bilibid prison, and tortured at Fort Santiago.[2] He was released from prison on August 18, 1897.[1]

The Philippine Revolution had begun while he was in prison. He was commissioned as one of Emilio Aguinaldo's officers and was among the few who assisted Aguinaldo in planning war strategies and activities. When the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed, he was asked by Aguinaldo to be one of the members of his party going into exile with the Hong Kong Junta, In Hong Kong, he studied military science under the Lord Commander Joseph Churchase of the British Naval command.[1] This enabled him to master the arts of soldiery — fencing, shooting, gunpowder and ammunitions preparations, and the planning and execution of war strategies and tactics.

Shortly after Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine Independence in 1898, Lukbán was sent to the Bicol region to direct military operations against the Spaniards. His successes in Bicol ushered him into a new and challenging assignment: as Leyte and Samar's politico-military chief. Lukbán married his second wife Paciencia Gonzales in Samar. This union produced eight children: Victoria, Juan, María, Fidel, Rosita, Ramon, José and Lourdes.

On December 31, 1899, a hundred Philippine soldiers under Lukbán gathered and he proclaimed himself the new governor of Samar under the First Philippine Republic. When the U.S. 1st Infantry Regiment landed on Samar’s shores in January 1901, they were met by infantry charges under Lukbán’s command. Nevertheless, Lukban was soon forced to retreat into the island's interior, leaving behind an organized resistance network.[1] Samareños caught cooperating with the Americans were executed swiftly and dramatically. When U.S. General Arthur MacArthur offered Lukban amnesty in exchange for his surrender, he turned it down and swore to fight to the end.

Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured in March of 1901. He took an oath of allegiance to the United States on April 19 and urged his followers to lay down their arms.[3] Samar, under Lukbán's leadership, remained one of the few areas of Philippine resistance. American troops encountered few enemies to fight in the open, finding themselves constantly harassed by Philippine soldiers. Some sources credit Lukban as the strategist behind the September, 1901 Balangiga massacre, in which more than 50 American troopers were ambushed and killed.[4] Other sources, surmise that, although Lukbán may not have played an actual part in the planning of the attack, he approved the operation which was planned by his Chief of Staff Captain Eugenio Daza.[5][6]

After two prisoners of war revealed the location of Lukbán’s headquarters along the Cadac-an River, Basey, Samar, warning that the fort was impregnable, Major Littleton Waller sent scouts to investigate. On November 17, 1901, Waller attacked with an amphibious assault team up the river, as Captains Bearss and Porter attacked by land with forces from Basey and Balangiga. The amphibious assault was thwarted by a carefully laid out ambush by Philippine forces, and Porter attacked alone. The Philippine soldiers retreated when they started to receive heavy machine gun fire from American Gatling guns, leaving scaling ladders behind for the Americans. The retreating Philippine soldiers were gunned down from behind as the American flag was raised above the garrison. It was a victory for the Americans, with 30 Philippine soldiers dead. The war on Samar, however, would not truly be over until the rugged interior, controlled by the Pulahanes was conquered.

Lukban was captured on 18 February 1902 in Catubig, Samar.

Lukbán's career did not end with his captivity. He was elected governor of Tayabas (now Quezon province) in 1912 and re-elected in 1916. He died at his Manila residence on November 16, 1916.

• Camp Lukban, military base of the Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division (8ID) in Maulong, Catbalogan, Samar, is named after him.
• A street in Gagalangin, Tondo in Manila is named after him.
• A species of Philippine lizard, Brachymeles lukbani, is named after him.[7][8]
• A monument in honor of him was built inside the Philippine National Police Samar Provincial Office.[9]

• Dr. Reynaldo Imperial, LEYTE, 1898–1902, The Philippine-American War, 2;40
• Dr. Reynaldo Imperial, SAMAR, 1898–1902, The Revolutionary Career of Gen. Vicente R. Lukban
• Who's Who in Philippine History, National Historical Institute
• Jose Calleja Reyes, BICOL MAHARLIKA, 21;281
• Philippine Insurgents Records (PIR), microfilm section, National Library

• Lukban and his Camp
• Filipino Patriots