LUKBAN
Seeing that escape was impossible, he descended to the ground, raising his hands up and calling.“ Paz( peace).” His secretary and aide did likewise. On seeing his captor, Lukban greeted him:‘’ Good afternoon. Lieutenant, I am General Lukban, and now your prisoner.’’ He then ordered his secretary Lt. Luciano R. Ortiz, to turn over his( Lukban’ s) Winchester carbine and the lieutenant’ s revolver, with about 25 rounds of ammunition apiece.
Then Strebler entered his house and took from him all his papers, but allowed no one to touch any of his property, of which he had but very little. All he had left were two suits of clothing and a pair of shoes. Everything else had been captured by Captain Jackson during the August raid of Lukban’ s quarters in Sitio Rosario. There was nothing else in the house except about 25 pounds of rice and a few camotes( sweet potatoes).
According to Strebler, it was difficult day especially for the white troopers who were not used to such harsh conditions. It rained hard all day, and the waters and streams were swollen. On dry land, thousands of limatok( small leeches) covered the trails. The men who had no shoes suffered a lot, blood running freely from their feet where the leeches were stuck as they suck the blood of their victims and would not leave until they had their fill. But Lukban’ s capture lightened up things. Strebler’ s plan to capture Guevara with Lukban did not materialize as the latter was sent to the east coast by Lukban a few days earlier. He arrived at Laguan with his prized captive at around 9:30 p. m. on February 22.
In his report, Strebler noted that his troops marched for about 124 miles to the place of capture and their return, not counting the distance travelled by launch from Tagabiran to Laguan and back, a distance of about 28 miles. He estimated the distance from Laguan to Maleju to be about 90 miles south. He had nothing but praise for his men who endured the wild and mountainous country they had traversed, with hardly any trail to speak of. He wrote that their feet were in“ no enviable condition …( but) they never complained.” One shot fired would have brought their work to nothing as Lukban and his allies would have been alerted.” I especially wish to recommend Sgt Pedro Lora, to whose intelligence and energy is due, more than anyone else, that I found my way across the mountains. On our last‘ hike’ under your command this man has shown his value,” Strebler added. 21
Endnotes 1 http:// philippineamericanwar. webs. com / collapse1901. htm
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