LUKBAN
school at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and, after graduation served at the court of first instance in Quiapo, Manila. This was followed by an appointment as justice of the peace in his own hometown. He was soon recruited into the masonry where he became known as“ Luz del Oriente”( light of the orient). It was here where he was recruited into the revolutionary movement.
When the revolution broke out in 1896, at 36 years old, he was engaged in agriculture and had a thriving business. On Sept. 29, that year, while in Manila attending a meeting of the agricultural society, the Spanish authorities arrested him for his involvement with the Katipunan. Like many prisoners at that time, he was tortured to extract information about his fellow revolutionaries, but he stood his ground. So they kept him at the Carcel de Bilibid. The torture and imprisonment in a flooded cell left him with a permanent limp.
He was released on May 17, 1897 after Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera granted amnesty to political prisoners. He immediately joined General Emilio Aguinaldo’ s forces. It was most likely here where he learned the art of war. After the Pact of Biak na Bato was forged on December 14, 1897, he went into exile with Aguinaldo in Hongkong and became part of the revolutionary junta.
In May 1898, Lukban returned to the Philippines and resumed his involvement with the revolutionists. He was immediately tasked by Aguinaldo to assist the revolutionary movement in Southern Luzon. Here he was given the rank of colonel. His next assignment was to assist the movement in Bicol. But there were delays in the mobilization of arms and personnel because of another officer’ s refusal to release some of the arms captured from the Spaniards. These were released only after Aguinaldo himself intervened. Finally, Lukban proceeded to Bicol where he again exhibited his skills in war. By mid October, Lukban completed his task. After this, he would be working fulltime on his original assignment in Leyte and Samar. It was only on December 31, 1898 that he was finally able to present himself to the leaders of Samar in Catbalogan. 3
Samar in 1900
The ancients used to call Samar island‘ Ibabao.’ It is located in the most eastern part of the Visayas and southeast of the island of Luzon, from which it is separated by the Strait of San Bernardino. Toward the southwest, it is separated from the island of Leyte by the narrow Strait of San Juanico, which runs from north to south, lying between the southwestern coast of Samar and the northeastern coast of Leyte, and
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