Vicente Lukbán
Vicente Lukbán | |
---|---|
Governor of Tayabas | |
In office 1912 – November 16, 1916 | |
Preceded by | Primitivo San Agustin |
Succeeded by | Maximo Rodriguez |
Personal details | |
Born | Vicente Lukbán y Rilles February 11, 1860 Philippine Republican Army |
Years of service | 1898–1902 |
Rank | Captain General |
Battles/wars | Philippine–American War
|
Vicente Lukbán y Rilles or Vicente Lucbán Rilles (February 11, 1860 – November 16, 1916) was a
He was also an officer in
Early life
Lukbán was born in
In 1886, he resigned his position as a
Philippine Revolution
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2020) |
Lukbán had been inducted into Freemasonry, Luz de Oriente ("Light of the Orient") in 1884. The organization had attracted many intellectuals and middle-class Filipinos to its ranks. 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, imprisoned in Bilibid prison, and tortured at Fort Santiago.[2] He was released from prison on August 18, 1897.[1]
The Philippine Revolution had begun while he was in prison. He was commissioned as one of Emilio Aguinaldo's officers and 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 with the Hong Kong Junta, In Hong Kong, he studied military science under the British Naval command.[1] 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.
Philippine-American War
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On December 31, 1899, a hundred Philippine soldiers under Lukbán gathered and he proclaimed himself the new governor of
Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured in March 1901. He took an oath of allegiance to the United States on April 19 and urged his followers to lay down their arms.[3] Samar, under Lukbán's leadership, remained one of the few areas of Philippine resistance. American troops encountered few enemies to fight in the open, finding themselves constantly harassed by Philippine soldiers. Some sources credit Lukban as the strategist behind the September, 1901 Balangiga massacre, in which more than 50 American troopers were ambushed and killed.[4] Other sources, surmise that, although Lukbán may not have played an actual part in the planning of the attack, he approved the operation which was planned by his Chief of Staff Captain Eugenio Daza.[5][6]
After two
Lukbán was captured on 18 February 1902 in Catubig, Samar.
Post-captivity
Lukbán's career did not end with his captivity. He was elected governor of Tayabas (now
Memorials
- Camp Lukban, military base of the Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division (8ID) in Maulong, Catbalogan, Samar, is named after him.
- A street in Gagalangin, Tondo in Manila is named after him.
- A species of Philippine lizard, Brachymeles lukbani, is named after him.[7][8]
- A monument in honor of him was built inside the Philippine National Police Samar Provincial Office.[9]
Footnotes
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85109-952-8.
- ISBN 978-0-451-23918-1.
- OCLC 989388381.
- ISBN 978-1-85109-951-1.
On September 28, 1901, Lukban approved the operation that became known as the Balangiga Massacre.]
- ^ Bautista, Veltisezar. "The Balangiga, Samar, Massacre". Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-04-21.[unreliable source?]
- ^ Borrinaga, Rolando. "The Balangiga Conflict:Its Causes, Impact and Meaning". Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2008-04-21.[unreliable source?]
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Lukban", p. 162).
- ^ Species Brachymeles lukbani at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ "LUKBAN". www.lukban.org. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
References
- Dr. Reynaldo Imperial, LEYTE, 1898–1902, The Philippine-American War, 2;40
- Dr. Reynaldo Imperial, SAMAR, 1898–1902, The Revolutionary Career of Gen. Vicente R. Lukban
- Who's Who in Philippine History, National Historical Institute
- Jose Calleja Reyes, BICOL MAHARLIKA, 21;281
- Philippine Insurgents Records (PIR), microfilm section, National Library