LUKBAN
Chapter 4
War in Catubig
One remarkable feature about this war in Catubig was the involvement of the native population . From the stories gathered from documented as well as oral sources , it was evident that it was the local leaders who took the initiative in its planning and execution , although the guerrillas of Lukban provided assistance .
Catubig used to be a small town some 18 kilometers from the mouth of the deep , navigable Catubig River that empties into Lake Lao-ang in the northern section of the island of Samar . Further inland , in the upper source of the river was another village called Las Navas . Before the last two decades of the Spanish rule in the Philippines , Las Navas was in fact the seat of municipal government in the Catubig Valley .
However , toward the close of the 19th century , Kagninipa ( now Catubig ) started to outgrow Las Navas . Its strategic location probably explains this best . Kagninipa was located right at the stretches of wide agricultural lands in the vortex of the rich rice-growing Catubig Valley , reputedly the rice granary of Samar . So the ecclesiastical authorities built a strong stone church in Kagninipa in 1886 . This edifice was stronger in construction and larger in size than the Church in Las Navas .
Early in February 1900 , some Americans started coming in trickles posing as private surveyors . The local church authorities were perceptively more friendly with the visitors than they were with the natives . But the “ visitors ” were also trying their best to be friendly with the natives .
Then one day the “ surveyors ” started to wear military uniforms , and men arrived ferried by a gunboat , confirming the suspicions of local leaders . The priest had left for his safety as the Americans used the convent as a garrison . The soldiers belonged to Company H , 43rd Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the U . S . Army . To the Americans , the occupation of Catubig was important because the town served as the rice granary of the district , which supplied food to the forces of Lukban . It meant denying the rebels such a supply .
This alarmed the local leaders . Soon they were meeting secretly .
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