LUKBAN
shelter therein, our troops destroyed very little, and this destruction was generally confined to isolated shacks which sheltered the enemy in the hills, though in a few cases the American troops did destroy towns.“ 8
Gen. Frederick Grant was, of course, speaking for himself. Grant took over from Gen. Smith and was the one who formally accepted the surrender of Guevarra and the remaining insurgent troops after the capture of Lukban. He was no doubt trying to downplay the excesses committed by American troops in Samar.
No matter. For a nation who had just thrown off the yoke of more than 300 years of Spanish rule, American intervention and the subsequent use of force to enforce a questionable and unjust treaty can never be justified or adequately explained – except as an act of imperialist greed. The next 40 years of American rule in the country could not salvage the backward economies of Samar and other conquered provinces. For one, Samar had remained in the backwaters, with many of its villages listed as the poorest in the entire country. Its current politics harken back to the old colonial days when the local illustrados governed the masses and kept them dependent on political largesse. American rule had not changed that but was in fact foisted on that structure, and to this day the politics in the island is a grim reminder of colonial politics. Sadly, Lukban’ s brief stint was not able to change that. The elite leaders could not be persuaded to give body and soul to support the anti-American enterprise. Capitulation to the American cause became the order of the day especially in the last days of Lukban when he was on the run. In most cases, the presidentes municipal and their appointees were the first to capitulate to the enemy.
Could Lukban have won against the American juggernaut if the local illustrados supported him and his cause? Considering the conditions, it was highly improbable for them to give him that support because of their vulnerability to pressure. There was too much at stake to lose. These illustrados were the propertied classes who had some land and probably engaged in some business. To be identified with Lukban meant to be persecuted and probably killed or tortured. The best they could do was to support Lukban in secret and double as officials of the American regime in the towns. To the credit of a few of such heroic souls, some illustrados juggled their lives on such dangerous games and still lived to tell their horror stories. But many were tortured and killed.
The most effective strategy the Americans had used against the natives of Samar was hamletting. Earlier they instituted food blockade so that goods from the neighboring provinces could not get in. Later they
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