Samar and Leyte during the Katipunan War

  

Vicente Lukbán y Rilles or Vicente Lucbán Rilles (February 11, 1860–November 16, 1916), was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the famous Balangiga massacre, in which more than forty American troopers were killed. Later investigations by historians, however, disclosed that Lukban played no actual part in the planning of the attack

                                   Early life

Lukbán was born in Labo, Camarines Norte on February 11, 1860 to Agustin Lukbán of Ambos Camarines and Andrea Rilles of Lucban, Tayabas. 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.

He returned to Labo after resigning from his job at the Manila Court of First Instance. 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.

Philippine Revolution

Lukbán, thereafter, accepted the post of Justice of the Peace. In 1884, he was inducted into Freemasonry, Luz de Oriente ("Light of the Orient"). The organization had attracted many intellectuals and middle-class Filipinos to its ranks. In 1886, he stopped working in the judicial office and busied himself with agriculture and commerce in Bicol. He formed La Cooperativa Popular aimed at promoting the cooperative business activities of small and medium scale producers with the aim to increase their income from the lands by selling their products without passing through middle men. 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. He was imprisoned in Bilibid prison and tortured at Fort Santiago  While Lukbán was still in prison, the Philippine Revolution began. On August 18, 1897, he was released from jail, together with Juan Luna and immediately thereafter, joined the revolutionary government’s armed forces.

In the army, he was commissioned to serve as one of Emilio Aguinaldo's officers. Lukbán 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 in Hong Kong. Lukban spent his exile in Hong Kong studying military science under the Lord Commander Joseph Churchase of the British Naval command. 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

Memorials:  Camp Lukban, military base of Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division (8ID) in Brgy Maulong, Catbalogan City, Samar, is named after him.

Source:  Ako Bicolano FB